Notes from the Past
by MissWitchx
Summary: Sixth year begins and the Golden Trio discover what they believe to be records of Draco's Death Eater activities; however, when the investigation takes an unexpected turn Hermione uncovers the truth to a much more complex secret, and a side of Draco she never knew... D/Hr story with Harry and Ron as minor characters. Warnings: A/U; mild language
1. 1 - Mysteries

**A/N: I own nothing within the Harry Potter universe. I had a plot idea which was pretty much bursting to get out so here we are! Disclaimer: This is a 'what if...' scenario; everything up until the end of fifth year happened :) **

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_It was lunchtime at Verus Junior School and Hermione found herself comfortably settled in a sunny patch of grass on the playing field; her nose buried in the pages of her favourite book. She had blissfully immersed herself into another world, and the laughter and screams of children seemed to rapidly decrease in volume around her. She had barely been reading two minutes when a shadow was suddenly cast over the page, and a voice interrupted her concentration._

'_What are you reading?' _

'_A book.' She replied bluntly, raking her eyes away from the page to see the figure of a blond boy standing before her. 'And where on earth did you come from? I mean there's not exactly many people here since this is the year 6 field and you were no where in sight when I first came over here.' _

_The boy's voice was mischievous when he replied._

'_Magic.' He said simply, 'and "a book"? You don't say! Stop being sarcastic will you, I'm trying to make conversation here. I meant _what _book?' The boy sat down beside Hermione without invitation. She sighed in frustration and turned to face him._

'_Well before you interrupted me, I _was _reading 'George's Marvellous Medicine' by Roald Dahl.' _

'_Sounds babyish to me.' The boy stated in mock condescension. He was obviously trying to wind Hermione up, and he was succeeding. _

'_You can't say things like that if you've never even read it!' She said shrilly before slamming the book shut, conceding that the way this lunchtime was going she wouldn't be getting very far. '_ I _find it to be a wonderful book. It's about a boy who creates this really wacky medicine made out of all sorts of odd ingredients. He cooks it up in a big pot, and he-' _

'_Sounds like a potion to me; what's this 'medicine' nonsense?' The boy cut across her, scoffing. He later burst out laughing at Hermione's annoyed glare due to him having interrupted her once again. _

'_Well I suppose you're right to some extent. I mean, it can't logically do anyone any good if a doctor gave you some of George's medicine judging by some of the stuff he puts in it.' _

'_What the hell are you –'_

'_I quite like the idea of calling it a potion; it sounds so much more exciting than plain old medicine. I do the same thing as George sometimes – when I was little I used to mix up shower gels and soaps in a bottle and pretend it was my own potion.' She smiled, by this point thinking out loud to herself rather than to the boy in her company. He responded nonetheless. _

'_Pfft. Call that a potion? I have a _real _potion making kit at home.' He said proudly. He turned away muttering to himself as soon as he finished speaking, although what he was saying didn't make much sense to Hermione. For one thing he was speaking quietly and the playing children around them made it even harder to hear. Hermione could swear she heard the words 'Muggle' and 'forgot' in the same sentence. She pondered this, trying to think of what he really said – after all 'Muggle' wasn't a word. _

_Pale fingers clicked in front of her face whilst she was deep in thought, bringing Hermione's thoughts back to the blond boy. She sneered at him and pushed his hand away. _

'_Don't get moody with me, if you pay attention that maybe I wouldn't have had to do that. While your mind was away with the pixies I asked you if you wanted to make a _real _potion at my house some time.' _

'_Firstly, the phrase is 'away with the _fairies.' _Secondly, -' Hermione was once again cut off. But this time it was by an unfamiliar squeaky voice calling the boy's name. It sounded like it was coming from nearby but Hermione couldn't see anyone around who appeared to be searching for him. Next to her, the boy groaned loudly and sighed._

'_Actually, forget it. I can show you something better.' Came his smug voice. _

'_Like what?' Hermione asked sceptically. _

'_Magic.' The boy said again. _

'_Magic? Ha. And _you're _the one telling me _I'm _babyish.' She smirked, though her eyes were twinkling with humour. _

'_Don't believe me? Fine, I'll prove it. Close your eyes.' – Hermione did as he said, half believing him, half thinking the boy was bluffing and determined to call him on it. It was a win-win situation really. 'Now, count to three, open your eyes and be amazed.' His voice came directly from Hermione's left side. She counted to three, opened her eyes and looked around the field and the roads beyond it. The boy was nowhere in sight._

16 year-old Hermione Granger opened her eyes at the same moment. Lying on her bed in Gryffindor Tower, she smiled as she replayed the scenes of her 10 year-old self unknowingly witnessing real magic for the first time; however it was far from the first time she'd had that dream. She so frequently had it that she often questioned if it was real to some degree, or if it was in fact nothing more than a fantasy. Hermione had often rebuffed this argument, as she personally would have found no joy in meeting a magic stranger and so boldly claiming such power doesn't exist, only to find out that _she _was the one in the wrong.

Hermione vividly recalled her first memory of real magic, and it was her own power instead of a stranger's. When she was six, she had made her bookshelf collapse in her bedroom without touching it. Quite strangely, it had happened under the influence of another Roald Dahl book, _Matilda_; which told the tale of a bookish girl who had the ability to move objects with her mind whenever she felt angry or upset. Needless to say, Hermione thought she'd have a go at it for fun.

Come to think of it, why did she think of the boy as a stranger? If her dream was nothing more than a dream, she knew full well that 10 year-old her would have immediately informed a teacher that a strange boy was talking to her. Then again, he could have been a student in her year at the same school…but he wasn't wearing a uniform, was he?

Hermione sighed in frustration: every time she had this dream she ended up in the same pointless train of thought. To her, the other person would always be known as 'the blond boy'. After all, she could never remember details about his face or appearance in detail when she woke up: all she could come up with was just a blurry shape of colour, which looked similar to Muggles you see on the News when they don't want their identity revealed.

Hermione scrunched up her face in self-annoyance as she once again admitted defeat on the matter. Was this what it feels like to be Wendy at the start of _Peter Pan_? -This was another of Hermione's favourite novels so she easily drew a comparison to her current situation- When Wendy first sees Peter, he had flown into the children's nursery in the middle of the night, so she was left wondering if what she had seen was a dream or not for days. In hindsight, Wendy seemed to have had it easy; Hermione had been confused about this for years.

Hermione's mind continued to wander for a while longer until it suddenly registered that it was very quiet in her dormitory. She noticed that her roommates had already gone down to breakfast. _Crap! This can't be happening on the first day back! _She thought as she hastily threw off the bed covers and sat up. Her sudden movements caused a loud but familiar crunching noise to emit from where her head had been. She sighed. _Sod it – I'll just skip breakfast today. _Hermione thought as she rummaged around beneath her pillow and withdrew a battered and crinkled piece of parchment.

It was a sort-of ritual of hers to read this note every morning: she had found it scrunched up into a ball in her hand the day she had been revived from petrification in her second year. It had been accompanied by a single pink Azalea, which had been placed at the foot of her hospital bed. That same Azalea now sat looking fresh as ever in a vase on her bedside table with the help of a modified Freezing Charm.

She had no idea who the note was from, and in some ways it could be viewed as a cruel prank, but her gut was telling her that the sentiment behind the words was genuine. The double meaning was the reason Harry and Ron didn't know about the note; she didn't want a bad light shed onto it. The note made her feel special: after all, the only romantic experience she'd ever had was with Viktor Krum at the Yule Ball, and even that wasn't 100% great because of her fight with Ron towards the end.

Of course, Hermione had the note memorised by now, but she liked to read it all the same.

'_Hermione,_

_I deeply regret feeling that I have tempted fate; no Muggleborn deserved this treatment, least of all you._

_I have been so worried whilst you have been in here, and I wish I could be here for you when you wake up; however I'm afraid I can't tell you who I am right now._

_I just want you to know that I really care about you. I thought I had convinced myself otherwise over the last few years…that is, until I saw you lying petrified in this hospital bed. _

_One day I hope to explain everything to you but the time just isn't right. I'd ask you to be patient, but I know you so I half expect you to figure everything out and be the one to track _me _down (although I hope this note is cryptic enough so I can tell you in my own time.) I hope you will keep the Azalea; that way you won't forget about this message. _

_I leave you with a lesson I recently learned: Things are rarely what they first appear to be. Until the time is right, _try _to stay out of trouble. X'_

Hermione grinned sheepishly as she always did after reading the note. She folded it in half and carefully put it back beneath her pillow before getting dressed and heading down to her first lesson. In hindsight, she liked to think the author of the note as a Guradian Angel of sorts. '_Things are rarely what they first appear to be.' _ That advice had been really helpful to her over the last few years: it was how she knew Voldemort hadn't really been torturing Sirius the year before in the Hall of Prophecy, and how she knew that Crookshanks hadn't eaten Scabbers/Pettigrew in third year when Ron had been more than convinced otherwise.

Hermione owed a fair amount of her past deduction skills to the mystery author, but of course she would never tell Harry and Ron that.

* * *

'I'm telling you, Malfoy's a Death Eater.' Harry said for what felt like the thousandth time since they arrived at the castle the previous evening. Hermione let out a groan whereas Ron seemed to be finding far too much interest in his forkful of chicken and leek pie to take notice. 'Don't be like that, guys. I know what I heard on the train yesterday and it sounded like a far from innocent conversation on Malfoy's part.'

'Harry, I know what you heard and you obviously have suspicions, but honestly what's the point of this? I mean you don't have any proof.' Hermione said evenly, sensing that her best friend's temper was rising.

'Have you not noticed that he hasn't turned up for any classes today? Come on, Hermione, was Malfoy in Arithmancy last lesson or not?'

'Well, no he wasn't.' Hermione conceded. 'But just because he hasn't been in lesson doesn't automatically make him a Death Eater. He could be in the Hospital Wing for all we know.'

'Yeah, his Dark Mark could be having a twinge.' Harry muttered under his breath.

'_Harry!_' Hermione hissed, elbowing him under the table. 'Can't you drop this Death Eater business until you have some form of proof? After all this wouldn't be the first time you've falsely suspected someone of something; namely about Snape in first year. I don't want you to get obsessed about this.' At this, Ron snorted with amusement and choked on the piece of pie he had finally begun to eat. He coughed loudly and gulped down his glass of pumpkin juice before speaking.

'A bit late for that, 'Mione. Harry was up half the night staring at the Marauder's Map looking for Ferret-Face.'

'What?!' Hermione gasped, whipping her head around to face Harry, who shot Ron a 'thanks-for that' sort of look, causing Ron's ears to turn scarlet.

'Okay, I know that was probably a bit extreme since I'd only started having suspicions a few hours before, but do you know where Malfoy was? Nowhere. Which means he must have been in the Room of Requirement, and I'm willing to bet he's been there all morning. It must be something shifty if he doesn't want anyone to know what he's up to; planning something for all we know. It makes sense for Voldemort to want someone on the inside of Hogwarts!'

Hermione groaned once again as the trio rose from the Gryffindor table and set off to the dungeons for double Potions.

'And I suppose that Snape suddenly being given the DADA teaching position means that he's a secret Death Eater whose going to sabotage our Curriculum now he knows Voldemort's back? I mean, _he's _on the inside of Hogwarts. Think about how absurd that sounds, because there's _no proof. _Things are rarely what they first appear to be, Harry.' Hermione reasoned as the three friends reached the Potions classroom, smiling at having quoted her note.

She looked up as they stopped walking, surprised to see none other than Draco Malfoy stood in the doorway at the front of the line. Hermione smirked triumphantly at Harry.

'Just because I can't prove he's a Death Eater doesn't mean you can prove he isn't.' Harry grinned back as the sixth year N.E.W.T students entered the classroom.

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**A/N: So there we are, the first chapter of my first fanfic :) Review if you liked **


	2. 2 - Potions

**A/N: I own nothing. This story is for non-profit. Thank you so much everyone who has followed so far! :D **

'The recipe for Draught of Living Death can be found on page 10 of your textbooks. Off you go!' Professor Slughorn said cheerily. There was a chorus of rustling pages and the clinking of jars as the whole class hastened to start brewing the potion. Of course, this enthusiasm was far from the norm; it just goes to show the differences a good incentive could bring.

As Hermione began weighing out her ingredients, Harry and Ron interrupted her concentration as they slammed their borrowed textbooks onto the wooden bench, making her start.

'Steady on! You almost made the powdered root of asphodel spill everywhere!' She exclaimed crossly.

'Sorry, 'Mione; Harry's just sulking because I got the new textbook before he did.' Ron said, dragging his cauldron towards him and lighting a fire beneath it. Hermione glanced sideways at Harry's graffiti-ridden recipe and stared in shock. _Who would do that to a book? _ She thought. Seeing her expression, Harry seemed to read her thoughts exactly.

'I know; not pretty is it? Almost every page looks like this; I can barely read the real instructions. Guess it's up to you one of you to win that Felix Felicis: it seems like the best chance we'll get of finding out the answers about Malfoy. ' Harry shrugged.

Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes and made a start on cutting up her sopophorous beans, which was proving to be more than difficult. The rest of the class seemed to have reached the same point in the recipe, for there were small beans flying everywhere. No matter how much she tried to hold the beans down onto the bench the blade of the knife did nothing more than skim along the surface and project it across the room; only to hit Ron in the shoulder on one occasion.

Hermione raked her clammy hands through her hair and rolled up her sleeves as she became increasingly impatient. _Why would they tell you to cut the beans if it doesn't bloody work?!_ Her mind was screaming. She was even more bewildered to see that next to her, Harry had managed to release a good amount of juice from the beans.

'How on earth did you do that?' She demanded.

'Crush them.' Harry replied. 'The author of this graffiti seems to know what they're talking about, it works a treat.'

'But the _real _instructions say to cut them.' Hermione argued helplessly. She couldn't bear the feeling of failure, especially when she noted the cruel irony of the source of her failure being from a book. Her hair was slowly becoming more unruly and wild due to the humid fumes, which did little to improve her mood.

When a long and stressful amount of time had passed and she was still no further along, Hermione scanned the room in desperation, pleading that she wasn't the only one who was finding this potion difficult. Her eyes locked with Malfoy's for a second or two when she reached the Slytherin table and she was surprised albeit a bit smug that he too, was apparently struggling. Like hers, his grey eyes were wide and shining as if filled with unshed frustrated tears and his white-blond hair was falling in front of them as if he too, had been raking his hands through it. Had this not been Potions, Hermione would have considered this behaviour startlingly uncharacteristic, but she knew full well that Potions seemed to be the only subject Malfoy actually cared about as well as excelled at. Come to think of it, this was the only time she'd known him to find a potion difficult.

It suddenly registered that she was still staring at the Slytherin table, and Malfoy was now staring back at her with an odd expression on his face, his brows furrowed slightly as if he was in deep thought. Hermione eventually turned her attention back to her cauldron and attempted to clear her mind and focus. However; this attempt was unsuccessful as Malfoy's strange behaviour was praying on Hermione's mind. _Well that was a new experience: Draco Malfoy looked straight at me without sneering or insulting me. He looked fairly pleasant even. Maybe he should get stressed out more often. _

Hermione smiled to herself and absent-mindedly fingered the simple string bracelet that was tied around her left wrist whilst she tried to think how she could cut the beans. The bracelet wasn't particularly spectacular to look at but she was rather fond of it all the same: it was periwinkle in colour and woven into it was the word 'Aeterni.' She couldn't remember _not _wearing it, in fact, let alone how she came across it in the first place. According to her parents, the word was the Latin translation of 'eternal' and she knew that her late grandmother had been a jewellery designer so Hermione had concluded that the bracelet had been one of her creations. She wasn't certain but it seemed plausible, as Hermione had always felt a sentimental connection to the bracelet. She smiled once again and finally resumed making her potion.

'Ten minutes left everyone!' Slughorns sudden exclamation sounded thunderous amidst the silence, which had filled the dungeon for the last hour or so. A loud crash from the far corner of the room rang out at the same moment.

'SHIT!' Malfoy hissed loudly. He had knocked his cauldron and several glass phials to the floor with his elbow, having jumped violently at the abrupt announcement from Professor Slughorn. He banged his fist on the bench as he stared down at the puddle of his potion in utter disbelief, only to watch a rat scurry up, lap up some of the liquid and fall asleep seconds later.

Hermione's heart momentarily went out to him; the rat was just adding salt to the wound, so she wasn't surprised when the Slytherin exploded. 'Look what you made me do you stupid man! That potion was damn near perfect; the rat just proved it. I can't express how much shit I've had to deal with, and YOU have just ripped away the only chance I had of turning my fortunes around. I cannot express just how much I need that Lucky Potion!' Malfoy seemed to be more angrily expressing his thoughts to himself rather than at Slughorn by now. He continued muttering and cursing as he picked up the cauldron and cleared up his potion and ingredients with the 'Scourigify' charm. He scooped up most of the shards of glass in his arms and stalked towards the exit. A waste bin stood next to the door, in which Malfoy deposited the glass before storming out of the room. Hermione could swear she saw him drop something else into the bin, but everything had happened so fast that she couldn't be sure.

Every eye in the room watched silently throughout this scene. It was very rare that a student had stormed out of a class, but it was even more of a shock to Hermione that it had been Malfoy; who was usually a closed book, usually the epitome of composure. This was now the second example of uncharacteristic behaviour she had witnessed from him. She caught Harry's eye and he looked at her knowingly, as if to say 'If he's not a Death Eater, how do you explain that?'

It was some time before Slughorn recovered from the unexpected outburst.

'Ah, well to give the boy some credit, that was most unfortunate timing for an accident like that to occur. After all, the potion did look faultless. Shame he walked out like that really, but hey-ho, I shall begin judging the remaining potions.' He said awkwardly to no-one in particular. He walked around smelling and stirring the liquids in each cauldron muttering inaudible comments to himself as he went. Hermione flushed in embarrassment when he peered at her attempt, saying nothing more than 'Hmmm…' and wrinkling up his nose.

'Ahh, now this is more like it!' He clapped his hands together in delight as he reached Harry. 'It is simply perfect. Well done Mr Potter, I think we have a clear winner here.' Slughorn promptly thrust a small phial of Felix Felicis into a shocked Harry's hand. 'Please excuse my haste, Potter. It would be nice for you to enjoy your moment of triumph but with one thing an another, I daresay the bell will be ringing any second and you all need to pack your things away.' - The Professor turned to address the whole class - 'Well done today everyone. Your homework is to evaluate your attempt at Draught of Living Death and grade yourself to N.E.W.T standard. I shall begin next lesson by comparing your evaluations with my own notes. Get packed up now, for I believe you all have a free period next and I'd hate to be taking that valuable time away from you.'

The class began packing away their equipment and books. The atmosphere had rapidly changed since Malfoy's outburst, for the silence that rang out in the dungeons was tangibly uncomfortable. Students seemed to be eager to get away and relax in their respective Common Rooms; even Slughorn scurried away as fast as he could. Before long only Harry, Ron and Hermione remained.

'Congrats, mate.' Ron said, clapping Harry on the back. 'Maybe its not so bad you've got that tattered old book. You owe the author of that graffiti a favour after this; I mean without them you wouldn't have won the prize to find out what Malfoy's up to. No offence or anything.' He added sheepishly. Harry grinned at his friend.

'None taken, honestly I wouldn't have had a chance without the book. Even Hermione was having a hard time: the girl who managed to brew Polyjuice Potion in second year! I say we use Felix as soon as possible. Hermione what are you doing?'

Whilst her two friends were talking, Hermione had wandered over to the bin next to the door. Thankfully no one had thrown any ingredients away when they were clearing away so she found what she was looking for easily. She removed a plump, sealed envelope from the top of the pile of rubbish and had extracted its contents when Harry had asked her the question.

'Shush for a minute, will you.' Her friends exchanged confused expressions and watched as she scanned through a sheaf of crumpled and stained parchment. Hermione's mind was racing as she read. 'Let's head back to the Common Room' She said, looking up. 'Malfoy may have just left behind proof of what he's been up to.'

**A/N: Sorry this chapter was quite short, I'm not particularly happy with it but I've already written the next one and it's much longer and better so I hope that will make up for this. **

**Thank you everyone, review if you liked! 3 **


	3. 3 - Misdirection

**A/N: I own nothing (unfortunately) Thank you so much for reading/ following my story :D **

Hermione marched purposefully out of the dungeons and began ascending the staircase, leading the way for Harry and Ron, who were struggling to keep up.

'Bloody hell, Hermione what's the rush?' Ron panted behind her as they reached the third floor. 'And is it too much to ask what's on that great wad of parchment you fished out of a _bin_?'

'Yeah, how did you know Malfoy dropped it there in the first place?' Harry asked, joining them.

'Honestly, what's wrong of the pair of you?' Hermione said, laughing. 'Quidditch Captain and an aspiring member of this year's team having trouble keeping up with the least sporty girl in sixth year. I can see it as tomorrow's Prophet front page now.' She gestured a left-to-right sweeping motion with her hand in front of her face, as if to show her friends the imaginary paper. She giggled harder as she watched Harry and Ron exchange embarrassed glances, although Harry's expression soon changed to shock and he groaned.

'Crap! I need to start organising try-outs. I know it's the first day back but Angelina and McGonagall have been dropping hints all day that the sooner we have a team, the more time we have to train. Okay, maybe you two have a point and I've been going on about Malfoy too much if I'd forgotten about Quidditch.'

'There's your answer Ron, we need to hurry because Harry has other things to do. Now come on.' Hermione said, beginning to walk down the corridor.

'Hang about, I thought we were going to the Common Room.' Ron shouted after her.

'The library's bigger so there's less chance we'll be questioned or overheard.' She shouted back over her shoulder, still walking. The others caught up to her a few seconds later. 'And about your question, Harry: didn't Malfoy's behaviour strike you as odd?' Harry opened his mouth to reply but Ron answered for him.

'Bit of a stupid question, 'Mione. It's not every day he goes shouting his mouth off at teachers is it?'

'_I mean – '_ Hermione shot Ron a dark look – 'when he was clearing up. Malfoy's not really a get-your-hands-dirty type, and he physically picked up the glass when he could have saved himself the hassle and levitated it towards the bin. Moreover, I thought it odd that he even bothered to clean his mess up in the first place.

If you were _really _watching him, you would have seen him drop this envelope into the bin along with the glass, which means one thing. He _wanted _to get rid of this without anyone else knowing it belonged to him.' She finished her explanation as the trio reached their destination.

The library was relatively empty since the majority of the school was in lesson. Hermione found a partially hidden table behind a tall bookshelf at the back of the library all the same to ensure maximum privacy.

'Okay.' Harry said slowly as he took a seat next to Ron, working Hermione's theory through in his mind. 'One thing doesn't make sense.' He said eventually. 'There are many more permanent and easy ways of disposing of this. He could have burnt it for one thing; if he didn't want anyone else to know about it why not make sure it's gone for good? What's more he could have gotten rid of it at a better time, I.E – _not _when there's a classroom full of people watching his every move.'

Hermione pursed her lips in contemplation. 'Yes: now you mention it that doesn't quite add up. Maybe – '

'For the love of Godric's underpants can you please explain to us what's on the parchment. It's because of Malfoy getting rid of it like he did that let us have it now so why are you questioning it?' Ron said in exasperation. Hermione had to concede that he had a point. She looked around to see if there was anyone watching, and spread out the pieces of parchment across the table for Harry and Ron to see.

'I know they aren't signed or dated, but from quickly reading some of the sheets back in Potions they look like records of some sort. Looking at them more thoroughly now I'm not as confident that this is solid proof of anything; a Concealment Charm has been put on the pages by the look of it.' She gestured at a large ink smudge on the page closest to her.

'They don't look particularly well cared for so what makes you think these smudges are magical concealments?' Harry asked.

'If you actually read one of the pages you'll see that smudges always take the place of where someone's name should be.'

'That being the case, why does that make you _less _confident it can't prove that Malfoy's a Death Eater?'

'Because without identification of people who are mentioned it makes it more difficult to determine exactly what kind of events these record.'

Harry nodded his understanding and picked up one of the pages. He tapped it with his wand muttering 'Aparecium' – a Revealing Charm. He shrugged when nothing happened. 'Worth a try, it would have made our lives much easier. I think you're right and it's been charmed though, Hermione. They must have all sorts of Dark spells on them if these record details of what we think.'

'Bloody hell.' Said Ron as he picked up a page of his own and stared at it. 'Malfoy's handwriting isn't very pretty is it? It all looks like scribbles. Funny, I always expected him to be one of those poncy gits who has really fancy-pants swirly writing.'

Hermione rolled her eyes. 'Focus, Ronald. What does it matter how awful his handwriting is? By the look of the pages it doesn't seem like he necessarily cared about them so its logical the handwriting is rushed too. But before we start going through them, I do think it's wise to assume it's Malfoy's writing; otherwise we could be here all night and start overthinking it. Agreed?'

Her friends nodded, and they each took a few sheets. They decided to read them out one-by-one, saying the word 'blank' whenever there was a smudge and see if piecing together similar details could form a chronological order. Ron brought up a page to his face and read:

'_I am going to write down my memories with blank. I wouldn't usually do something trivial like an 8 year-old Hufflepuff would do, but given what happened today I think it's important that I don't forget about blank. Even more surprisingly, I've realised that I _don't_ want to forget. That scares me slightly because I've always been told that its in my blood to be aloof; a Slytherin at heart that doesn't need anyone. It's strange because I feel like I _need _blank in my life; I can't explain but that's what my gut tells me.'_

There was silence around the table as Ron finished reading; the three friends seemingly in deep thought as to what the words could mean. A million different scenarios were whirling around in Hermione's head and she was becoming confused and muddled up as more options popped into her mind. She scrunched up her face in annoyance. _This is going to be harder than I thought. That git: he leaves key evidence in easy reach for us but has to charm it so it's bloody impossible to figure out. _

'I think we're all overthinking this.' Harry's voice cut off Hermione's stressed inner-babble. 'Mainly because I think that was the first record out of the lot. The first sentence pretty much gives that away.' Ron seemed to perk up in realisation at this, but Hermione remained sceptical. '_Things are rarely what they first appear to be.' _

'You're right that this is almost certainly the first sheet. But if the rest are Malfoy's memories, we have yet to find out which is the first one, so we aren't much further forward. What have either of you come up with as a logical identity of this Blank that Malfoy doesn't want to forget?'

Ron shrugged. 'There are too many options.' Harry seemed to disagree completely, much to Hermione's surprise.

'You two are still overthinking it. Answer me this: why are we bothering to read through and decipher all of these in the first place?'

'To try and prove or disprove that Malfoy is a Death Eater.' Hermione answered robotically without thinking about what she said. Harry looked at her expectantly with his eyebrows raised. It was then that it dawned on her. 'Of course! We need to read these assuming that he _is _a Death Eater. That way what he has written will either fit in or make no sense at all.' She said excitedly, receiving a triumphant smirk from Harry who was proud to have figured it out first.

'Exactly. I think its logical to assume that this Blank in this record is an existing Death Eater or Voldemort himself.' Harry said. 'What do you two think about that?'

'Makes sense, but it sounds a bit like an emotional need for Blank on first reading. I couldn't really see Malfoy writing about how he doesn't want to forget about You-Know-Who and how he wants to give him a cuddle or what-have-you.' Ron said, stifling a snort of laughter at the mental image he had just put into Harry and Hermione's minds. Madam Pince had chosen that exact moment to poke her head around the side of the closest bookshelf and give Ron a stern telling off; which made Hermione's giggles even harder to contain. She waited for the old librarian to shuffle out of earshot before she voiced her opinion.

'The way its been written, an emotional need isn't the only option. If you think about it from a more business-like approach, it makes sense that Blank could be a Death Eater or You-Know-Who. For example, how Malfoy says that he doesn't want to forget about Blank; that could mean that meeting said Death Eater had been a great influence to him, and so impacted his life,' Her friends nodded in understanding at this conclusion. 'As for the 'I'm meant to be a lone-wolf Slytherin' part, maybe he feels out of his comfort zone having to rely on other people to complete a task. I mean, You-Know-Who hasn't ever sent only one Death Eater to do his bidding has he? It's always been a group. So the 'need' he described could be the need to be put into that situation more often, even if he's not used to it.' Hermione had cleared her mind by now and the writing now seemed to make a lot more sense.

'Blimey. You are brilliant. I think you've cracked this one, 'Mione.' Ron looked decidedly impressed at her deduction, as did Harry, who spoke next.

'Yeah, brilliant! So I think the next step is to use the information on the page Ron just read out to find a linked record. Didn't he say something about 'I can't forget, _because of what happened today?_' Maybe we should sort through our own piles to see if we have anything that this could be. I know they're all probably going to be eventful since every page is about this Death Eater, but see if you have anything that would have been enough to spur Malfoy on to write everything down about them.'

This process took up more time than expected, for both Ron and Hermione thought they held the piece of information linked with the first page. In the end Harry was chosen to read them both and decide which was the one they needed. He read Ron's quietly to himself first.

'_Blank and blank in the middle of a heated argument…surprising to see blank that angry, and at _BLANK _of all people. Then again I had no idea what they were actually arguing about…blank was _crying… _In that moment I wanted nothing more than to defend blank but I couldn't, for obvious reasons... I remember being up half the night worried about blank.' _

'It's possible.' Harry stated. 'I think this one's fairly straight forward to figure out though.' Hermione nodded, as she had worked it through in her mind quite easily. 'The Blank he is worrying about is clearly the mystery Death Eater; maybe they formed some sort of friendship. Because of the capital letters I reckon the other Blank is Voldemort himself, which explains why Malfoy couldn't say anything in the Death Eater's defence: he would have been killed. His worry at the end makes me think that Voldemort killed the Death Eater.'

'In that case, shouldn't that memory be the _last _one. This can't be the one that made him start recording the memories, because that one gave the impression that Malfoy would see Blank again at some point.' Hermione reasoned aloud, waving her own page in the air, eager to share it.

'This isn't a lesson, Hermione, you can put your arm down!' Ron laughed as Hermione thrust the page into Harry's hand. Hermione was confident that this was the linking memory, and as Harry read, it became clear that her hunch was right.

'_I was told by blank that blank is a 'bad influence' on me and I shouldn't see them anymore. I thought this was stupid. I suppose it's because of what I overheard in that conversation when blank was talking about that bloody prophecy or whatever. Blank told me that blank would be 'attended to' so they couldn't 'fulfil the prophecy and break the family'. I still don't like how blank didn't go into details, so I made blank promise that blank would be safe. It wasn't very re-assuring that blank didn't look too engaged in the conversation. I need to trust that blank will keep their end of the promise. For blank's sake.' _

'There were way too many 'blanks' in there for my brain to handle. Just how many people was that ferret referring to in that one?' Ron asked, his mouth hanging open in confusion.

'Two. The Death Eater and another.' Hermione said simply. 'He let slip that this prophecy would harm his family, which means the other person is bound to be a Malfoy.' She was glad to see that this had helped Ron understand, for he had his own ideas of who the other blank was.

'It has to be his Mum. After all, his Daddy and Aunty Bellatrix can't tell him another Death Eater is a bad influence if they're part of the group themselves.'

'Brilliant!' Hermione squealed, thankful that her dustbin dive was paying off and they were actually getting somewhere. 'And this page gives us a timeline. He mentioned a prophecy, which suggests this memory is from last term.'

The Gryffindors had become cocky that they were on a roll at this point, but after reading the memory about the prophecy, the trail seemed to run dry and they had to resort to randomly sorting through the pages, with little luck of putting any two, logically, together.

An hour had passed since they arrived at the library, and as Harry wearily drew a new page up to his face, Hermione squinted at something stuck to the back of it.

'Harry?'

'Mmm?' Harry sounded very tired, and he peeked over the top of the parchment to look at her.

'What's that stuck to the back of the page you're reading?'

'Huh?' Harry said, immediately snapping to attention and flipping the page. His eyes widened and he jumped out of his seat in excitement.

'What is it?' Hermione had immediately perked up judging by her best friend's reaction.

'It's a delivery notice…for a Pensieve.' He paused for dramatic effect and grinned. Hermione almost screamed in delight at this new lead they had. Of course, they didn't know for sure what exactly Malfoy used the Pensieve for, but because it was mixed up with records of some of Malfoy's memories, it made sense. Best of all, this was a foolproof way of knowing once and for all if Malfoy was a Death Eater or not.

'Thank Godric for that!' Ron said, throwing down the parchment and rubbing his eyes. 'We can just use the Pensieve instead of guessing what all this rubbish means. I can't believe we wasted our _free lesson _doing work _on the first day back_.'

'We need to figure out if we can actually access this Pensieve first, Ron.' Hermione chuckled. 'I bet one of these pieces of parchment has the answer in it.' Ron's face dropped and he groaned.

'I reckon we tackle this tomorrow. I want to organise a date for Quidditch try-outs. ' Harry said, getting up. 'Then we can figure out if this Pensieve is in the castle or not.' Hermione nodded and began collecting up the parchment into a pile. The words on one of the sheets caught her eye, and her heart seemed to be hammering in her chest like there was a Bludger in her ribcage. 'You coming, 'Mione?' Harry said, wondering what was taking her so long.

'Go on without me, I want to check something.' Hermione waved her friends off without looking at them, utterly fixated on the parchment before her. She picked it up with trembling fingers. There was a whole paragraph of scrawled writing but her eyes could only look at the last couple of sentences.

'_I'd told myself over the last few years that Muggleborns are bad influences and beneath Purebloods; I was told that, as a Malfoy, I was to assume that all Muggleborns are dirt and worthless and since then I have openly judged them as such on first meeting. But seeing blank lying in the Hospital Wing made the memories I had buried for so long rush back to me, and I learnt a lesson there and then: __things are rarely what they first appear to be__.' _

Hermione's head was shaking in disbelief; she could barely form coherent thoughts in her mind. _That note, it was Malfoy all along! It can't be. So it's just a cruel prank. But it was so heartfelt. And the flower. Just, Malfoy?!_

Hermione remained stood staring in shock at the parchment, unable to tear her eyes away from the familiar words. She was so engrossed, in fact, that she didn't notice a tall, blond figure watching her from behind a bookshelf. She never would have believed to hear that a genuine smile also stretched across his lips as he watched her for a minute or two more, before he made the familiar journey to the seventh floor.

**A/N: Ooooh things are getting interesting :D**

**I haven't got any reviews yet so I will love any beautiful witches/ wizards who would leave me one (hinthint) ;D xx**


	4. 4 - Discovery

**A/N: Thank you so so much _penguin princessu _and _illori leene _for giving me my very first (and amazing) reviews! This chapter is dedicated to you :D Enjoy! (As always, I own nothing)**

The longer Hermione stared at the parchment, the slower time seemed to pass. It felt like she was going to be stuck in this moment for eternity; trapped in such a confused emotional state from which there was no escape. The air seemed to grow thin around her as her brain became overwhelmed with a billion thoughts about Malfoy and the note and the secret memories.

She wasn't accustomed to not being able to figure something out at the best of times; but she had just spent an hour with her friends analysing the crap out of Malfoy's memories to reach a logical conclusion, only for all that effort to be shattered by a single sentence. It was all too much for her, and it wasn't until she stumbled out of the library, sheaf of parchment in hand, until time seemed to pass normally again. Thankfully, her thoughts seemed to slow down with it. Hermione rubbed her forehead and slowly exhaled as she began the journey up to Gryffindor Tower, her shoulders slumped, as if these unanswered questions were weighing her down.

_- I knew that handwriting seemed familiar. I can't believe I didn't piece it together before, I mean I only read that damn note every morning! _

_- Maybe because logically it would be impossible for Malfoy to be the author of the note so it didn't occur to me. What could possibly have possessed him to write that for me? He's been such a foul git to me over the years._

_- Yes, but he hasn't been as bad since second year. Second year… when he wrote me the note… 'I really care about you' 'I've been so worried.' This makes no bloody sense! Did he get a personality transplant? Did he get a concussion? Confunded? _

_- And the rest of these memories. Surely the one I know is about me is the only one. After all what Harry, Ron and I figured out earlier made so much sense. _

_- But why would Malfoy- heartless, stoic, Pureblood Preacher Malfoy – bother writing about me: Mudblood Granger? At least he stated a reason for wanting to write about that Death Eater. _

_- Unless…no…nothing about this makes sense. Dammit, Hermione, stop overthinking this. _

Hermione's thoughts took the form of an argument as she ascended the Grand Staircase. By the time she had snapped herself out of it, she realised that she had been stood still in front of The Fat Lady for quite some time. The woman in the painting was clearly impatient with her loitering.

'Are you going to give me the password or are you just going to stand there with a face like you've had a Dungbomb stuffed up your nose?' Hermione's cheeks reddened in embarrassment and she felt her face, which had been screwed up in frustration and confusion, automatically relax.

'Oh, er sorry. Err…' _Oh Merlin, what's the damn password?!_ The Fat Lady was now looking very annoyed indeed. 'Oh yes, Anguem Fiducia.' The Portrait swung forwards, allowing Hermione entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room.

Hermione's heart was hammering as she sat cross-legged on her bed comparing the handwriting of Malfoy's memories to her secret note. It seemed like a pretty pointless thing to do but she needed as much confirmation as she could get. The scrawl was undoubtedly the same, which answered very few of Hermione's questions. She still couldn't piece anything together, and the thought of Malfoy being the author of her note seemed more absurd as she read it again for the umpteenth time.

'_One day I hope to explain everything to you, but the time just isn't right_' _Come on Malfoy, it's been four years. When is the right time? And why hasn't it been right so far?! _

It was doing no use trying to figure everything out; Hermione would clearly have to take matters into her own hands. '_I half expect you to figure everything out and be the one to track me down'_ That line of the note made her shudder: it seemed like Malfoy really _knew _her by those words. It was this that still made Hermione want to think that the author should be someone else, anyone else in fact.

Hermione flicked through the rest of the parchment absent-mindedly and sighed. She was clearly getting no-where thinking of the answers herself, and she couldn't ask Harry and Ron without having to spend ages explaining about the note. Hermione found that the more she thought about it, the more horrible realisations came to mind. _The writing matches, so if Malfoy had written the note in second year, that means the memories were written around the same time. You-Know-Who would never recruit a twelve year-old so that totally disproves our Death Eater theory. I sit near him in Arithmancy and his writing is much neater than it is on these sheets. Why didn't I piece this together before? Dammit!_

Being stubborn, Hermione knew she should give up looking for answers; after all Malfoy was the only one who could give them to her, but she was determined to get some headway on some kind of explanation. She finally conceded that the only way she'd know what the hell was going on was to find the Pensieve herself and see what Malfoy's memories really were; of course, she would have to do this alone as Harry and Ron were still under the impression that Malfoy was a Death Eater.

Tomorrow began with a free lesson and History of Magic, which Hermione decided would be worth skiving in return for having all of her questions answered. On the downside, that meant she had to find out where the damn thing was in the first place before the morning. Wanting to be sure no-one would question her, Hermione waited until her roommates had drifted off to sleep before she huddled under the blankets reading the Pensieve delivery notice by wandlight.

'_Status: Dispatched _

_ElmTree Pensieves Ltd. To Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry_

_**Notice of Delivery Details**_

_Dear Mr D Malfoy_

_The Pensieve you ordered will be delivered by the 18th June 1996. The post-_

_owl will require an additional Galleon for delivery fee for the longer journey. _

_Regards,_

_Oliver Elmtree _

_Receipt details: 10 Galleons, 18 Knuts. Number 008657324'_

Hermione hadn't expected the delivery notice to be of any use and she certainly hadn't been surprised to be no further forwards with her investigation after reading it. She perused the parchment and cast every Revealing Charm she could think of onto it but nothing happened. She turned the parchment and looked at it at all angles, feeling foolish but determined. An extra line of writing caught her eye. It had been scrawled along the long edge of the sheet, set apart from the main body, which was written along the short side.

'_Delivery Instructions:' _

The excitement that had overcome Hermione seconds before evaporated in an instant. The rest of the line was completely blank. She couldn't believe it: couldn't one thing go right for her today? Hermione officially gave up… for tonight at least. She sighed in disappointment and extinguished her wand tip. It didn't take long for the throws of sleep to overcome her, and she was so glad to be free of the stress and tension that had possessed her body for the last few hours of the day.

Hermione drowsily opened her eyes the next morning, awakening from another dream of the blond boy. She had never had this dream before, though. It was almost like a sequel to the recurring one she knew all too well: she had been making potions in a grand house with him, her dream-world best friend. At least, that's how she liked to think of him based on the vast amount of dreams the blond boy had appeared in.

The warmth and relaxation surrounding her shattered as her eyes lazily scanned the room, and fell on the Pensieve delivery notice, which was at a side-on angle to her. _Damn, I'd half-convinced myself that this Malfoy business had been a mere nightmare. _Hermione's vision was still blurry, and she could barely make out the sentences on the page. Looking at the half-legible letters seemed to make something click, and Hermione almost jumped out of bed in excitement that she had finally discovered the whereabouts of the Pensieve.

After rubbing her eyes multiple times to see if she had been imagining things, and she had read the notice over and over again just to make sure. The answer was there all right; it had always been there. The first letter of each line spelled out: s-e-n-d-t-o-r-o-r.

_Send to ror? The Room of Requirement, of course! That must be where Malfoy must have been sneaking off to yesterday! _

Hermione practically jumped with joy and hastily dressed and ran down to the Great Hall to breakfast, eager to set off to the seventh floor as soon as she could.

'Bloody hell, Hermione what's the rush?' Ron said through a mouthful of toast as Hermione plonked herself ungracefully into a space beside him.

'Lots to do.' She said simply, chancing occasional glances over to the Slytherin table to see if Malfoy was there. Thankfully he was, for Hermione first needed to know if he was planning on going to the Room of Requirement during their free lesson.

'Yeah I know, we'll help you figure out the Pensieve thing later, 'Mione. Ron and I are heading down to the Quidditch pitch after breakfast.' Harry said.

'No need, I figured it out last night.' Hermione said, smiling, once again looking over to the Slytherin table. She immediately made to get up as she was unsure how long she had before Malfoy would leave the Hall. 'I'll explain later, I'm checking it out after breakfast. It's complicated.' She added upon seeing Harry and Ron's excited but questioning expressions, and set off across the hall to the Ravenclaw table.

Hermione took full advantage of Malfoy sitting on the side closest to the Ravenclaw-side aisle. She made a point of striking up a conversation with Luna Lovegood, who was conveniently sat across the aisle to him. It was relatively easy to eavesdrop on Malfoy's conversation without letting on to Luna that she wasn't listening. She had dreamily began reciting a tale of how she spent her summer searching for wild Fwoopers with her Dad and how she narrowly escaped listening to their song and being driven insane; and all Hermione had to do was nod and say the occasional remark like 'yeah' or 'Oh, really?' and Luna was none the wiser. Hermione smiled and concentrated on the conversation that was happening across the aisle.

'-then History of Magic with the Gryffindors.' Goyle's voice drifted across to her. 'Talk about rubbing salt in the wound, eh Malfoy?' He nudged the blond boy with his elbow.

'Mmm.' Came the response. 'It's not so bad; I find that class particularly welcoming. I need some sleep. I was up most of the night.'

Hermione's eyebrows rose with surprise. _No smart-arse remark about the Gryffindors? Hmm…_

'Seriously Draco, where have you been sneaking off to lately?' Blaise Zabini spoke up eagerly.

'Nothing you lot need to know about.' The blond said coolly.

'I bet he's been chosen!' Crabbe's gruff voice whispered, which was greeted by excited gasps around Malfoy, who merely scoffed.

'As I said before, I've been up most of the night.' Hermione saw him rise from the table in her peripheral vision. 'So I will be going back to the dormitories to catch up on some sleep. I'm so glad we have this free lesson. See you later.' Hermione watched the back of his blond head bob away and out of the Great Hall. _Thank Godric. At least I know he won't walk in on me... speaking of which, I may still have one problem. _

'- and then Daddy cleared the Wrackspurts out of my head.' Luna's airy voice drifted back to Hermione's ears.

'Err, wow Luna, sounded like you had a hectic summer!' Hermione improvised before excusing herself and jogging back over to the Gryffindor table. Harry and Ron had started walking towards the Entrance Hall but Hermione managed to catch them up and lightly tug on Harry's robes. 'Harry. Could I possibly use a teeny tiny bit of that Felix Felicis you won yesterday?' She batted her eyelashes imploringly at him. He seemed confused at first, but decided not to question her and handed over the tiny bottle of golden liquid. 'Thank you!' She hugged Harry. 'I'll see you two later.' She said as she began climbing the Grand Staircase.

Panting, Hermione reached the seventh floor corridor and stood before the wall opposite the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy. She walked back and forth in front of the wall thinking of as many variations of what she needed as she could. _I need the room where Draco Malfoy keeps his Pensieve. Draco Malfoy's Pensieve room. The room where Draco Malfoy's Pensieve was delivered on the 18__th__ June this year. Where I can investigate Draco Malfoy's memories. _As she suspected, she couldn't think of the correct combination of words. She took out the Lucky Potion from her pocket and took a sip of it, hoping that it lived up to its name.

The warm, optimistic feeling that flowed through her body encouraged her, and she felt herself relax. She felt as if this feat was achievable, and she barely had to think about what she needed to say to enter the room. Her gut was screaming the words from inside her and she thought them confidently. _I need a room that will help me answer all of my questions about Draco Malfoy. _She thought it a bit odd that the correct words had nothing to do with the Pensieve whatsoever, but she somehow just knew that it would work.

Sure enough, a large door materialised before her. _Thank you, Felix! And the author of that graffiti to help Harry win Felix! _Hermione thought excitedly as she grasped the handle and stepped inside the room.

It was no bigger than her dormitory; vastly smaller than the DA meeting room she often used the year before. It looked quite homely, with a fire crackling at the opposite wall and a black leather sofa facing it with the right arm pushed up against the right wall. As Hermione moved closer she could see a rectangular wooden coffee table in front of the sofa. A plush bottle-green rug rested beneath these pieces of furniture, whilst floorboards occupied the remainder of the room. The walls, meanwhile were stone like the rest of the castle and decorated only with torches (which gave the room a pleasant ambience when coupled with the firelight) and one or two bookshelves on the left-hand wall, which were stocked with tomes about interpreting memories and Pensieves in general. The object of Hermione's desire, the Pensieve itself, rested in the far-left corner of the room.

This had by-passed Hermione's expectations: she had expected a broom-cupboard sized room occupied only by the Pensieve. The Room certainly was generous in this circumstance, and Hermione couldn't help but wonder if this was the exact room Malfoy had been using recently. She walked over to the stone basin in the corner, and noticed another shelf above it. This one held a row of small phials of what looked like silvery thread. _They must be the memories. I hope Malfoy had the decency to put these in some kind of order. _Hermione thought as she took the left-most phial off the shelf and examined it. She was thankful that she remembered to bring the written versions too so she could link them together and find out what each one meant.

Feeling a mixture of apprehension and curiosity, Hermione removed the stopper and tipped the contents of the phial into the Pensieve. She watched the silver float around in a strange non-gas, non-liquid form and tried to ignore the feeling of her heart pounding in her throat before taking a deep breath and lowering her face into the shallow basin.

**A/N: Sorry to leave it at such an annoying place but the next couple of chapters will be big ones, so I needed a kind of 'build up' chapter haha :**)

**I'd love it if I could get some more reviews... please and thank you :3 xx**


	5. 5 - Memories

**A/N: I'm being so nice, uploading the next day haha, but there may be a longer wait than usual for the next one with Christmas and all.**

** This was a really tough chapter to write... had so much stuff to get in without it being too complicated or long. Hope its okay though. I own nothing!**

Hermione rummaged around in her pockets for the parchment as the first scene began to come into focus; she wanted to be ready to cross-reference details with the written versions to ensure that these were the correct memories. She knew that she had probably gone too far in going to such extents as she was, but it seemed like the only way of knowing once and for all what was going on.

Hermione looked up from the parchment to see what must be Malfoy, no older than nine or ten, sat on a leather sofa directly across from where she stood. She froze as he looked up in her direction, but relaxed as she told herself that he was a memory, and so could not see her. Malfoy was sat in a large, dark room filled with grand furniture (typically, most of which were Slytherin colours of green, silver, grey and black) and mahogany floorboards. The room looked vaguely familiar somehow, but Hermione was too engrossed in the memory to bother placing it. She watched as a House-Elf pattered over to Malfoy and instinctively felt sympathy for the creature.

'You called, young Master Malfoy?' Hermione recognised the elf as Dobby, who she knew served his family up until second year.

'I'm bored. There's nothing to do here. Could you find something for me to do?' Malfoy seemed almost polite in that moment, and Hermione's eyebrows rose.

'Master has his broomstick and his Potion making kit.' Dobby squeaked. _Potion making kit? _Hermione thought suspiciously.

'I know, but its hardly any fun on my own. Mother and Father say they are too busy to play with me _and_ they're out all the time. This house feels like a prison sometimes, especially when I just have you for company.' The boy's grey eyes were sad shining with tears, and Hermione couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

'Dobby is sorry, sir, but Dobby must go into the Muggle town and run errands for Master Malfoy Senior, sir.'

'Let me go with you!' Malfoy exclaimed abruptly. The elf's eyes widened in fear and surprise.

'Dobby cannot allow it, sir. What would Master think if he were to find out that Dobby allowed young Master to fraternise with Muggles? Young Master should know that Master does not think highly of Muggles.'

'I'll make you a deal. I won't tell Father what happened if you let me go with you. Come on, I'm sick of this house.' The elf seemed to give up arguing and nodded, reaching out for Malfoy's hand to apparate.

The scene changed and Hermione now stood in front of a row of shops in the middle of a rural village. Fields stretched across the landscape past the road, and Hermione recognised the area immediately. Dobby, meanwhile, had scuttled out of sight behind a tree.

'What are you doing?' Malfoy scoffed.

'Muggles, sir. Dobby must not be seen.' Came the squeak. Malfoy turned around. Hermione followed his gaze and couldn't quite believe what she was seeing, or rather _who _she was seeing.

Two girls had come into sight and were walking towards them on the other side of the road. One of them had her nose buried in a book and wild brown hair, whilst the other was a blonde. Both girls were wearing blue school uniforms and talking. Hermione watched in disbelief; it was a very surreal experience to be watching herself. The girls were getting closer now and snippets of their conversation could be overheard. Malfoy also appeared to be trying to eavesdrop.

'Honestly, Hermione, do you ever stop reading?' The blonde girl said. Hermione recognised her as Verity Atkin, one of her classmates from her Junior school.

'Nope.' She heard herself giggle. 'I love this book. I've had it since I was six and for Christmas my parents bought me a whole set of books by the same author.'

'Aww don't mention Christmas, it's still only July and I'm going to be impatient waiting for it now.' Verity whined. Hermione rolled her eyes and found it very amusing to see her younger self doing the same thing from behind the pages of '_Matilda'_ – the book that first brought out her magical abilities.

'I don't like some things about Christmas. Like the elves-' Hermione giggled to herself as she knew what was coming. She noticed that Malfoy snapped to attention at this point. 'Santa pretty much enslaves them. It's a bit unfair don't you think? I mean, does he _pay_ them?' Verity laughed cruelly.

'Are you actually saying you believe in Santa and his elves? They don't exist. End of. Wow, Hermione wait until I tell everyone about this tomorrow!'

'Please don't do that. I-I meant theoretically speaking – ' Young Hermione stammered. The girls had now stopped walking and were stood directly opposite where Malfoy and older Hermione stood.

'Of course you did.' Verity said sarcastically. 'No wonder you don't have any friends; you're head is constantly buried in dream worlds that don't exist.' The blonde girl snatched up Hermione's book and threw it into the road, laughing as a car drove over it seconds later, causing the pages to rip and scatter across the tarmac. Young Hermione was crying and screaming.

'You utter witch!' Hermione watched her young-self make angry swipes at Verity with her hands.

'Oh, believe in witches as well do we? Pathetic.' The blonde girl laughed again and walked off out of sight. Hermione was stunned. Why didn't she remember this? She knew that she somehow fell out with Verity but could never think of how. She was even more shocked to see Malfoy running across the road to the opposite pavement, on which her young self was sat with her head buried in her hands, crying.

'Hey, are you okay?' Malfoy said as he sat beside her. Where older Hermione stood, she could hear the indignant squeaks of Dobby from behind the tree.

'What does it look like?' Young Hermione snapped.

'Sorry.' Malfoy mumbled. 'And sorry about your book, that was really horrible.' Hermione couldn't believe her ears. Was she really seeing this? Malfoy was being nice to her? By his knowledge, she was just a Muggle, which made the whole thing seem stranger.

'Yeah.' Her young self sniffed.

'I'd fix it for you, but I don't know many useful spells yet.' She heard Malfoy say.

'Spells? Oh making fun of me as well, are you?' Hermione hiccoughed. 'That's rich coming from a complete stranger!'

'No, no, no I'm not I swear. Forget I said anything. My name is Draco.' He held out his hand, which Hermione didn't take. He sighed annoyedly. 'Look, I'll let you in on a secret. I don't have any friends myself and I don't think I ever have. So I thought, maybe you'd like to be my friend?'

'I barely know you.'

'I know, but I just feel like I was meant to meet you today. I mean, not five minutes ago I was sat feeling bored and lonely at home and as soon as I get here, there you are! If it makes you feel any better, we have an elf at home and I don't agree with their enslavement either. But I suppose it's in their nature to work. And well, it's kind of useful to have one around the house.' Young Hermione giggled.

'You're funny, and I like that way of thinking about it actually. Thanks for cheering me up but I've got to get home. And yes, I'd like to be your friend. It's so unlike me to be impulsive like this but all friends start off as strangers don't they?'

'Exactly. I can see you tomorrow if you want.' Malfoy smiled at her.

'How?'

'You go to the school that's over that hill don't you?' He pointed back up the road Hermione had just come from. 'I'll see you there at lunchtime.'

Hermione laughed. 'I don't know how you'll get in but okay.' She began walking away. 'Goodbye Draco.'

'Magic!' Malfoy called after her before walking back to the shops and being confronted by Dobby, who had deemed it safe to appear once again.

'What is young Master doing?'

'Talking to that Muggle girl. She was nice, I don't know why Father is so against them.' Malfoy said as the elf held out his small hand. 'I actually have a friend now! No more being cooped up in that house.' Malfoy grinned as the pair apparated out of sight, and Hermione's surroundings morphed back to the Room of Requirement.

That memory had certainly been no use in giving Hermione answers; it just seemed to increase the amount of questions she had. Had she really known Malfoy as a child? The bigger question of course would be why could she remember none of this at all? Was she going mad? The sheaf of parchment hung limply from her hand and she headed across the room to the coffee table and threw the sheets down onto it. She had barely looked at them during that memory, so she decided that she would peruse the written memories after watching them. She recognised the account on top of the pile from the evening before.

'_I don't want to forget. That scares me slightly because I've always been told that its in my blood to be aloof; a Slytherin at heart that doesn't need anyone. It's strange because I feel like I _need _blank in my life; I can't explain but that's what my gut tells me.' _

Could this whole thing be about…her? No Death Eaters, no You-Know-Who, just memories about her and Malfoy? It sounded so absurd, especially because Hermione couldn't remember any of what had happened in the memory she had just watched.

Technically she had found out what she needed to, and that is that Draco Malfoy is _not _a Death Eater. (At least it can't be proved from these memories.) Yet, she felt like she needed to know what the rest of the memories depicted. What had happened all those years ago? Hermione suddenly remembered that a prophecy was mentioned somewhere, and that it would 'break the family' or something to that effect. She sighed and decided that the only way she would know everything was to use the Pensieve to watch the rest of the memories. She grabbed the next phial in the row on the shelf and tipped the silvery substance into the basin once again.

Hermione saw herself sitting on the school field reading a book, and Malfoy, who had apparated with Dobby from behind the trees around the field's perimeter, soon approached her.

'What are you reading?' He said.

'A book.' Young Hermione said. 'And where on earth did you come from? I mean there's not exactly many people here since this is the year six field and you were no where in sight when I first came over here.'

'Magic.' Older Hermione whispered along with Malfoy. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. This was the exact scene of her recurring dream, and all this time the little blond boy, her dream-world best friend, had been _Malfoy_! So she _had _remembered something from her apparent past with the Slytherin without even realising. Despite this, it still puzzled Hermione why Malfoy's face showed up as a blurry shape in her dream.

She had been distracted puzzling over this so she didn't notice the scene change. She looked up to see Malfoy standing in front of Lucius, who had Dobby by the scruff of the neck. She was back in the grand house from the previous memory. _So this must be the famous Malfoy Manor that Draco always brags about. _She thought as she resumed watching the memory.

'Draco, where on earth have you been with the servant?' Lucius hissed.

'I just wanted to get out of the Manor grounds for a while.' Malfoy tactically evaded the question.

'I see. But to a _Muggle _town? Was that really wise?'

'I don't know what the problem is, Muggle's aren't bad like you describe them, Father.' Dobby gasped in horror but Malfoy seemed oblivious to the implications of what he said.

'Oh aren't they? I wonder, how you could possibly make that kind of judgement, Draco?' Malfoy seemed to realise that he let slip vital information, and his pale eyes widened in what Hermione thought looked like fear.

'Well, I, er.'

'Choose your words wisely. I've already got the information out of the servant.' Malfoy looked rather hurt by this and glared at Dobby.

'Okay, I met a Muggle yesterday. We just talked. I'm sorry and I know how you don't like Muggles, but she's my friend, the only friend I've had. I really like her, please don't make me stop seeing her.' Malfoy blurted.

Hermione's heart was pounding; Malfoy couldn't possibly care about her this much after knowing her a mere two days could he? She also noticed that Lucuis' eyes had widened upon learning that the friend was a girl, and his lip curled uneasily. Hermione swore loudly as the scene dissolved and the Room of Requirement came back into view. She really thought she was making headway there, so immediately grabbed the next phial and looked into the Penisieve again.

The Manor surrounded her once more, but this time she was in a dark corridor looking at young Malfoy, who had an ear pressed against a large wooden door as though trying to eavesdrop on something. '_ I suppose it's because of what I overheard in that conversation when blank was talking about that bloody prophecy or whatever…' _This must be the memory Malfoy was referring to when he wrote that. Hermione listened intently through the door, hoping that the topic of conversation on the other side would match the written version.

'I'm telling you, Narcissa it's happening! When Draco mentioned a female Muggle earlier I began to panic.'

'Lucius, calm down' Came a female voice. 'When you've mentioned the prophecy before, it seemed like it spoke of a Muggleborn witch, not a Muggle.'

'I know but our son has really taken to her and I can't help but wonder if she possesses magical abilities. Draco mentioned that she finds pleasure in reading stories about magical worlds so naturally, my suspicions rose. I suggested that Draco invite her here tomorrow so I can observe and make the judgement for myself. Of course I'd hate to think of a Muggleborn to be in my house, but I feel it is necessary, for the greater good of this family.'

'And what if the girl is whom the prophecy speaks of?' Hermione held her breath.

'He cannot see her again.' Lucius said quietly.

'I realise it's not ideal that he befriend a non-Pureblood, but he's just a boy. He hasn't mixed well with children in the past so why not let him have this friend? It seems awfully harsh.'

'He is a future Slytherin and hence, should learn to rely on no-one but himself.' Hermione shuddered at the familiar words. 'Furthermore, it seems you need a reminder of the prophecy. I remember it clear as day. I had been in the Hall of Prophecy with the Dark Lord the day he found out about the prophecy about Potter. Whilst there I stumbled upon one marked with Draco's name. Naturally my curiosity got the better of me, and I returned a few days later.

_When, of age of ten, a young boy meets the girl of Muggle heritage, friendship will blossom and personal values will be altered. Following the footsteps of his heart and not his family values, two opposites will become one, thus posing a threat to not only the purest of ancient bloodlines but also to great plots when the Dark Lord returns.' _

Hermione didn't hear the words that were spoken next from the sound of footsteps on the other side of the door. Malfoy gasped and ran off so as to not be caught eavesdropping, and the scene melted away. Hermione's head was reeling as she lifted her head from the Pensieve. She was becoming overwhelmed with all of the information she had no idea about.

She decided to have a break and flopped onto the sofa trying desperately to decipher what she could remember from the prophecy. _Something about the bloodline being threatened because of our friendship? But Malfoy and I aren't friends! What else was there? Ah yes, the 'Dark Lord's plans' could be threatened because of our friendship. Does that mean You-Know-Who is planning to use Malfoy for something? So he might be a Death Eater after all since he and I aren't friends so I can't be a threat. Oh Godric, this is too complicated._

Hermione wasn't hopeful that the memories could tell her anything about the prophecy since Malfoy himself wouldn't understand them at age ten. But she was determined to get to the bottom of one mystery: what happened that made Malfoy want to remember her and go through all this trouble or writing up his memories for? Hermione dragged herself up and walked back over to the shelf of memories and lowered her head to the Pensieve basin after emptying the fourth phial.

In the Manor, Hermione took note that it was now daylight: the next morning perhaps? She watched over another familiar scene of Malfoy and herself making potions together with his kit. The scene she had dreamed about just the night before.

'It was nice of you to invite me over, Draco. Your house is amazing!' Young Hermione said.

'Yeah, you're pretty good at this, Granger.'

'Granger? I do have a first name you know.'

'I know, but I can't pronounce it so I'm sticking with your last name.' Malfoy laughed.

'Okay, and I suppose it's natural for me to be good at 'Potions'-' Young Hermione air quoted 'I mean, once I made my bookshelf collapse without touching it. I know it sounds crazy but I've felt drawn to weird and wonderful things like this ever since.'

Hermione watched on as Malfoy pulled out something from his pocket and handed it to her.

It was her periwinkle string bracelet.

'Don't ask questions. Just promise you'll keep this as a sign of our friendship, I've got one too. I just have the feeling that something's going to happen and I don't want either of us to forget each other. You're my first and best friend and so you'll always be special to me.'

Both Hermione's blushed at this sweet sentiment and older Hermione watched herself accept the bracelet before the scene changed before her. She now looked at Malfoy and Lucius having a conversation in what she presumed was the Manor dining room. She watched an accurate representation of one of Malfoy's written memories unfurl before her eyes: Lucius told Malfoy that she was a bad influence and how she would be 'attended to' and Malfoy made his father promise that she would come to no harm. It was really quite heart wrenching to witness: Malfoy was crying and clearly going through emotional pain, but he still thought of her first. _Makes you wonder what happened to make him be sorted into Slytherin. _Hermione thought sadly.

The scene changed once more and she now stood behind the shops from the first memory behind a tree, where Malfoy was hiding. Hermione looked over his shoulder to see her younger self and Lucius stood a couple of feet away. It was hard to tell what was being said but Hermione clearly saw Lucius point his wand at her face and whisper something in her ear before walking away and apparating when her back was turned. Malfoy stepped out from behind the tree in front of her and said hello to her young self.

'Do I know you?' Young Hermione asked, with a puzzled expression. Malfoy sighed sadly.

'No, I guess not. Sorry.' Not another word was spoken by either child, and after staring blankly at Malfoy for a moment or two more, Young Hermione walked away.

As the Room of Requirement morphed back into focus, Hermione heard a familiar voice behind her.

'I thought I might find you here, Hermione.'

**A/N: Literally had Seasons in the Sun by Westlife on repeat when writing this just to get a feel for the mood and events of this chapter :) _(Goodbye to you my trusted friend, we've known each other since we were nine or ten. Together we climbed hills and trees. Learned of love and ABC's. Skinned our hearts and skinned our knees... We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun. But the wine and the song like the seasons, have all gone...) _**

**GottaGetBackUp: Thank you so much :) **

**Goreyl: I got a review from you on email alert but its disappeared from the site so I'll reply to it anyway. Thank you! I see where you're coming from but there are a couple of twists to come :)**

**Thank you for reading :) Reviews loved!**


	6. 6 - Reunited

**A/N: I own nothing. Thank you so much to all of my new followers and I hope all of you had a good Christmas! I got tickets for the Harry Potter studio tour! Yaaay! **

**SonofWhitebeard: Thanks, I thought it would be nice to explore a different side to Draco with this story.**

**qsklue: Yup, Hermione's bracelet was mentioned in ch2. As for Draco, wait and see in this chapter! Thanks for the support. **

Hermione stiffened at the voice and she whirled around on the spot to see Draco Malfoy stood in the doorway across the room. From a distance it looked like he was wearing his signature smirk, and she braced herself for the torrent of anger and insults that was sure to come. However, as he approached Hermione could see that the smirk was in fact a pleasant sideways smile. She couldn't understand why he wasn't angry that he had just caught her pretty much invading his private memories. In that moment, Hermione felt exposed and unsure in his presence: they had spent the last four years being openly hostile towards one another, and now Draco Malfoy was suddenly being…civil, not to mention that she had just discovered that she actually had a _past _with him. Simply put, Hermione didn't know how she was supposed to act around him anymore.

'Malfoy. Do you want to explain to me what the hell is going on?' She frowned. Malfoy was now stood less than two feet away from her, smiling and looking at her with warm grey eyes chuckling to himself quietly. _That git, why on earth does he find this funny? It's strange enough that he isn't blowing his top like he did in Potions. In a way I kind of judge him for not being angry, I mean it's not exactly like I was invited up here._ Hermione hated being laughed at, and she now guessed that it must be a complex she developed after the 'Verity incident' occurred, even though she couldn't remember it.

'I've never been able to take you seriously when your feathers get ruffled and you get all bossy like that. It just reminds me of what you were like when I first met you. You haven't changed a bit.' He smiled down at her, but Hermione couldn't help but retort.

'Well I'm glad this has been a bundle of laughs for you, but on the flip side, _I_ have just –'

'Are you serious?' Malfoy cut her off. His smile had vanished and his stormy eyes hardened behind his white-blond hair. Now this was the Malfoy Hermione was used to seeing. '_You're _the one who's had it easy.' He continued, beginning to lose his composure. 'Imagine how it feels to have your best –and only- friend taken away from you, how it feels for them to look at you in the eye with no shred of recognition. Yes, it's nice that you still act how you did when we first met, but it's also the worst thing in the world. Almost every time you have spoken to me since first year, there has been such dislike in your eyes that it's _painful _to be reminded of those memories I shared with you…memories you don't even have.' Malfoy's initial anger had dissolved into sadness and he spoke more softly as he finished. He was breathing hard and his eyebrows were closely knitted together.

Hermione could only stare with her mouth hanging open through this entire outburst. How could he not be the least bit shocked or angry that he had found her with her face in his Pensieve: 'I thought I might find you here.' Then it dawned on her. Malfoy had planned this all from the start. All this time he had been the puppet master and Hermione had fallen for it. At least, that was the only logical explanation. But why?

Seeing the Slytherin so vulnerable and pained was the final thing that convinced Hermione of the seriousness, and the reality, of the situation. She had never seen Malfoy show any flicker of discomfort or hurt before, with the exception of the Potions lesson yesterday. _Maybe this is why he decided to lead me up here. That is, if he's been feeling this way all these years. I know Harry, Ron and I have joked about seeing Malfoy suffer like this, but it's way too surreal to actually see it._

'Draco.' The use of his first name made the blond head snap up immediately. Hermione took a deep breath before continuing, still feeling awkward about not knowing how to act around him. 'I'm sorry; I didn't mean to upset you. I can't begin to imagine how it must have felt, and honestly up until now I was questioning if those memories were even real. I'd also questioned the sincerity of the words behind that note you left me in second year because you've always acted like you hated _me. _And for the record-' Hermione smiled mischievously at the boy. 'I still hate it when people interrupt me. She thumped him in the arm playfully.

She was startled when Malfoy took a step towards her and wrapped his arms around her. Hermione couldn't do more than squeak in surprise as he had caught her completely off guard. Was Draco Malfoy seriously _hugging _her? Could this day get any stranger? Hermione felt completely rigid and awkward being this close to her long-sworn enemy, but she allowed herself to relax slightly and gingerly place her hands on Malfoy's back. He was quite tall so her chin rested where his collarbone joined his shoulder. _Hmm, funny, I always suspected he'd be a bag of bones; he's quite strong actually, which makes me feel safe. He smells quite nice too, like vanilla and strawberries…wait what the hell am I doing? This is strange, how can I feel totally uncomfortable but actually _like _this at the same time? _

'I've been waiting for so long to tell you everything. This must be bloody strange for you but I've just missed you so much. And you kept my note? I can't believe it.' The muffled voice cut off Hermione's thoughts and she smiled into his shoulder. He dropped his arms and he was beaming as he looked at her again. _He's actually not bad looking when he's not brooding and scowling all the time. _Hermione laughed to herself as Malfoy spoke again. 'Look, I know what a swot you are but do me a favour and skive History of Magic so I can explain everything to you.' Hermione agreed and followed the Slytherin over to the leather sofa.

'What's this now? Oh Granger, did you seriously go into the bin to get these?' Malfoy indicated towards the sheets of parchment of his written memories that lay on the table. 'Or did Weaselbee not have enough dinner so went to find himself a snack in there? I know he's poor but even that's pushing it.' Hermione felt a bit more at ease now he sounded more like the Malfoy she knew, but she glared at him all the same.

'As hard as it is to believe, I know I was friends with you first, but Ron is a good friend of mine so I'd appreciate it if you kept your comments about him quiet when you're around me. Secondly, back to 'Granger' now, is it?' She raised an eyebrow.

'Hey, I'm not used to addressing you on a first name basis either. Before I begin explaining things, I have a question.'

'Git. I've only been waiting four years to hear this.' Hermione muttered.

'Were you not paying attention to my note? Patience, dear Granger.' Malfoy smirked. 'What made you think those memories in the Pensieve weren't real?'

'Oh well, er… Harry thought you were a Death Eater because of something he overheard on the train and you hadn't been turning up to lessons, and the way you had written these, well it seemed like our theory could have been right.'

'Salazar, give me strength. Talk about overthinking it, Granger, all I wanted was to hide who I was talking about.' Malfoy laughed. 'Things are rarely what they first appear to be.' Hermione flushed at the words.

'Crap. It amazes me how that didn't cross my mind actually, it's been like a moral I've been applying to everything.'

'You're joking. There I was, wondering how the bloody hell you can be so intelligent, especially being a Mud- er…Muggleborn. And all this time, it's been me who's guided you to success.' Malfoy said smugly. Hermione rolled her eyes but appreciated his effort to avoid insulting her.

'Not _all _the time you prat. How can you even remember that you wrote that anyway?'

'Well I heard you say it to Potter yesterday before Potions and it sounded so familiar. Now that you mention it that was one of the reasons I decided to go for it and tell you everything. Which may explain why I was so…distracted yesterday.'

Hermione nodded. 'You really wanted that Felix Felicis.' It wasn't a question, but Malfoy answered anyway,

'You have no idea how much. But I'm getting side-tracked, I'll start at the beginning.' He relaxed back into the leather sofa and crossed his legs before beginning. 'I realise that you've had to be kept waiting, but I assure you I had a good reason. Did you watch the memory where my Father told me I couldn't see you anymore?' Hermione nodded. 'Do you remember the promise he made me?'

' I know the gist but not the exact wording.'

'I promised, unwillingly I might add, that I would stay away from you, that I wouldn't ever mention our childhood together to you. But as long as he promised me that you would be kept safe, whatever he was planning. Hermione nodded from the other end of the sofa.

'Well, recently, he slipped up and broke his end of the deal.'

'Could you elaborate on that?' asked Hermione.

'Certainly.' Draco laced his fingers together and looked straight ahead, and as usual, the epitome of composure and serenity. The light of the fire and torches illuminated the bone structure of his face beautifully. It was like Hermione was looking at him for the first time, which she was in a way, the first time looking at him knowing he wasn't a complete arse anyway. 'The Ministry last term; you were hurt by Dolohov's curse, and my Father allowed that to happen. He betrayed me, so in turn I was given the confidence to betray him as well. Loyalty is a big part of my family, so it took a lot of deliberation for me to decide to go against his wishes.'

'So what else convinced you to tell me?' Hermione asked softly.

'Well.' Draco began uncertainly. 'You weren't 100% wrong when you thought I was a Death Eater.' He said quietly, now looking Hermione in the eye. His grey eyes looked like molten steel in the light and were wide in anticipation of her reaction.

'What do you mean by that?' Hermione's heart was pounding.

'Over the summer it was hinted to me on a number of occasions that You-Know-Who is planning on recruiting me soon; what's more I hear that it's me he wants specifically. Maybe he's planning something… that was what I was talking about on the train anyway.' He said simply. Hermione opened her mouth to speak but Draco held up a hand to silence her. 'I knew you'd want to ask questions, but allow me to finish my explanation before we go off on tangents.' Hermione nodded reluctantly. She hadn't realised that this explanation would have so many layers and be so complex.

'That was really the time where I told myself that I needed to act soon. After all, it would be much more difficult to convince you of the sincerity of our past and my real self if I was associated with You-Know-Who, so I felt as if this was my last chance if I wanted you to know.

I was always uncertain about your reaction, but then in Potions I saw you were still wearing the bracelet I gave you. I know you wouldn't have known how you acquired it, but all the same it gave me a ray of hope, and for the rest of the lesson I knew I needed that Lucky Potion to increase my chances of telling you everything, and succeeding. But I was thrown off after that from the shock of seeing you with the bracelet and the pressure of needing the prize.'

'You remember the bracelet?'

Draco smirked and rolled up his left sleeve and Hermione gasped as she saw the periwinkle string around his slim wrist. She instinctively rolled up her sleeve to examine her own.

'See, mine says 'Amici'.' Draco leaned closer to her so she could see.

'What do the words mean?' Hermione whispered, reading the word on her bracelet: 'Aeterni.'

'Together, they mean 'eternal friends' in Latin.'

'Pretentious git.' Hermione said as she beamed at her long lost friend.

'Of course.' He smiled. 'Well that clears up my reasons for choosing this moment to tell you.'

'So, do you fancy telling me how you manipulated me to come and seek you out?' Hermione said, glaring at him as she jumped at the chance to let him know that she had (eventually) cottoned on to his actions.

'Don't give me that look: I'm a Slytherin what did you expect? Anyway, I _was_ planning on 'accidentally' dropping this parchment in a corridor; however that Potions lesson really made me panic, so I took the chance to dispose of it when I knew you were looking. I knew you, Scarhead and Weaslebee wouldn't be able to resist the chance to snoop through my private records, and I knew you in particular would get frustrated when you couldn't deduce precisely what they were referring to.'

'So you sacrificed the account of all of our memories in the hope I'd come here?' Hermione said, surprised to be feeling a little hurt.

'Not exactly. You see I'd already put the memories in the Pensieve so I had no purpose keeping the written ones. Also I thought that if my plan didn't work and you never came up here, it would be best to dispose of them. If I become a Death Eater when you didn't know I would have to force myself to forget about us.' He said sadly.

'But anyway.' He continued. 'I put a Sticking Charm onto the delivery notice so that you would know where to get answers, and here we are. It's just lucky that you figured out the message in that notice, it took me ages.' He chuckled. 'I do have one more question for you: how did you manage to get in here?'

Hermione grinned. 'It's fortunate that you messed up your potion yesterday. If that didn't happen, Harry never would have won.' She presented the tiny bottle to him smugly. Draco's face lit up.

'Potter? Are you serious? Well I suppose this was as good a time as ever for him to show me up in that lesson.' Hermione laughed; as if she had always been friends with him, like she already knew him. She just felt so _comfortable _around him, which was very odd when she considered all of the awful things he had said and done to her in the past. _Speaking of… _

'I feel a bit foolish having believed everything you're saying so easily, you know, considering the past _I _know to have had with you…' Hermione raised an eyebrow questioningly.

'Yes, I suppose I have some explaining to do there, but once again, things are rarely what they first appear to be.' Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes. 'For a long time after Father wiped your memories of me, I avoided him the best I could. I knew nothing of the Pureblood perspective of Muggleborns, Blood Traitors and what have you, so I suppose I saw it as a personal attack on me because I evidently wasn't a particularly easy child to get along with. He took my best friend away from me. That was how I saw it.

Soon my parents brought up Hogwarts into conversation, which is what triggered my Father to finally tell me of how 'I should' be thinking. He'd tell me that Purebloods are most worthy of magical education, and anyone less than that being accepted was essentially throwing the school's reputation to the dogs. I was still impressionable and naïve, so I soon got it in my head that you were obviously not _worthy _being my friend.' Draco, who had been avoiding Hermione's gaze so far, chanced a sideways glance at her and weakly smiled as if to show his regret of his actions.

'Of course, it didn't help my belief that Purebloods are the most capable wizards when I saw that you attended as well. I wanted to prove my Father right and show you up, but of course you beat me in every exam. Sufficed to say that Father wasn't particularly happy about this. I was punished and ashamed, which naturally made my opinion about you plummet even lower. I was so determined to see you finally slip up or suffer, whatever it took to allow me to one-up you. But of course, then the Basilisk petrified you, and well my note explains the rest.'

'What about _after _you'd written the note?'

Draco shrugged. 'It seemed the most logical thing to do to still act like I hated you, even though I didn't. I couldn't break my promise to Father and my fellow Slytherins would have turned on me if I showed sign of going soft. I dialled down the comments towards you as much as I could get away with, although I must say my attitude was real: frustration completely overwhelmed me because I couldn't tell you anything. It was killing me how you looked at me; though I know I'd given you good reason.'

Hermione nodded, staring blankly into the fire as she processed everything she had heard. Draco touched her hand gently and she looked at him. His body language was calm but his expression gave away his nerves and sincerity at what he had just said. 'However insane it sounds, and however hard it may be to believe, I'm really not a bad person. I admit that I have my moments of being arrogant and pretentious, but that's part of who I am. I wouldn't _choose_ to act like that all the time; it's bloody exhausting. If this is too much for you, I'll understand. Just know that everything I've told you has been the truth, Hermione.'

'Thank you.' She whispered. It was all she could say really. She looked down to see that Draco's hand was still covering her own. Hermione watched as his long fingers slowly moved up to her wrist and began stroking the string bracelet, and let out a silent gasp as he brushed her pulse point.

'You know what, sod what my Father thinks about Muggleborns, I'd like it if we could be friends again – even though you can't remember the first time.' Hermione raked her surprised gaze back up to Draco's face. She was taken aback that the proud Slytherin would actually put himself out there like that. _I still barely know anything about him!_ Her head was screaming, but her heart was telling her that he deserved the benefit of the doubt, for she's managed to have a civil conversation with him just now and actually felt _relaxed _in his company…

'I'd like that, Draco.' She smiled. He said nothing, instead pulling her into another tight hug. His breath tickled Hermione's neck as he sighed in relief, sending a chill down her spine.

'Thank you.' He breathed as he released her and flopped back against the sofa. 'Merlin that was tough.' He said rubbing his eyes.

'Why, not nervous were you?' Hermione asked mischievously. Draco looked at her and smirked.

'Not at all. I'm just not used to all this feelings-and-mushy-crap. I feel like a Hufflepuff.' He drawled in his usual superior tone, but cracked a smile afterwards. Hermione _did _roll her eyes at that.

'Take it from me, you seem a lot more human when you show emotion.' She laughed and surprised herself by instinctively leaning forward to embrace Draco once more. His eyes were wide with shock as she moved, but he wrapped his arms around her almost instantly.

'Well that's fair enough but all this hugging is on the borderline of my comfort zone. But I'll make an exception for you.'

Draco had somehow convinced Hermione to remain in the Room of Requirement until first lesson was over. Hermione had been apprehensive about staying longer with him than necessary one-on-one that morning, but she soon found that Draco was actually quite easy to talk to. Almost effortlessly they had managed to catch each other up on the time they had spent apart before starting at Hogwarts…and Hermione didn't feel awkward; to her it was no different than talking to Harry and Ron, which felt very surreal. The conversation soon circled around to Draco's memories.

'I still can't believe you three spent an hour convincing yourselves that I'm a Death Eater. I'd pay a fortune to see the look on your face when you saw what the memories really were.'

'It seemed plausible, okay! Anyway I'd figured part of the truth out on my own because you'd written 'things are rarely what they first appear to be' on one of them, so I linked that together with the note you left me.' Hermione said indignantly. Draco smirked.

'Malfoy to the rescue once again, eh? Honestly where on earth would you be without me?' There was no way Hermione would boost his ego and tell him how helpful that advice had actually been to her, so she evaded the question.

'Now we're on this subject, could you clear one last thing up for me? And before you make a smart-arse comment just remember that I still have higher grades than you.' She said firmly.

'Well played.' He smiled.

'What exactly happened when you wrote this down?' Hermione handed Draco the written memory Ron had read out the previous night about an argument of some sort occurring. She watched as Draco scanned the parchment and frowned in confusion when his smile faded and he began chewing his lip. _He can't possibly have forgotten what this was about, surely! _Hermione opened her mouth to ask what the problem was when the muffled sound of the bell rang throughout the room and Draco hastily rose from the sofa.

'Bad luck, Granger, looks like you'll have to wait' He drawled coolly as he leaned against the wall and ran a hand through his blond hair. Hermione pouted in annoyance, as she had no idea exactly how long she would have to wait. Almost as if he had read her mind, Draco spoke again, but this time more sincerely. 'Hey, I'll Owl you soon, I know you're dying to spend more time with me.' Hermione rolled her eyes but smiled; it wasn't entirely a lie after all.

**A/N: I know the fast development in Hermione's attitude towards Draco may split opinion, some people may think that it doesn't make sense. I see where you're coming from but if you re-read the memories from chapter 5, there is quite a simple explanation as to why she feels so comfortable so easily. I shall say no more :) **

**Thank you for reading! Reviews loved xx**


	7. 7 - Choices

**A/N: Thank you so so much everyone who has reviewed. Your support is amazing. I own nothing**

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'Hey Hermione where were you last lesson?' Ron called from the entrance to the Great Hall as she reached the bottom of the Grand Staircase. He eyed Draco suspiciously despite him having walked a little in front of her the whole journey down there. Hermione feigned confusion and pretended to be oblivious to the implications of his gaze: he was probably assuming that she had been getting answers about the Death Eater theory from the suspect himself, but Hermione was unnecessarily paranoid that he knew the whole truth.

'What are you looking at, Weasley? Amazed to see what high quality robes look like?' Hearing Draco's familiar snarl was strange to Hermione; it made it seem like the pleasant side of him didn't exist, or that she'd imagined the whole past hour or so.

'Yeah, you look like the most expensive ferret in Hogwarts.' Ron scowled back, which Hermione couldn't help but giggle at. Draco immediately whirled round to face her, still glaring.

'Been following me, have you Granger?' Hermione simply stood staring, not knowing how to respond. She knew he was most likely doing the exact same thing she was, but it will still very bizarre. They really should have discussed this back in the Room of Requirement so she would know what to expect; her brain couldn't take any more confusion. At least his accusation just now would have taken suspicion away that they had spent last lesson together.

'Don't flatter yourself, _Malfoy.'_ She regained her composure and improvised, very aware that Harry and Ron were watching. She walked over to them and rolled her eyes as she gestured in Draco's direction, who had sauntered off into the Hall to the Slytherin table. 'I'll tell you in a second.' She whispered as she met Harry's questioning gaze. She had no intention of telling her friends the whole story, at least, not until she had gotten used to the situation herself.

As the trio began walking to the Gryffindor table, Hermione chanced a glance over to the opposite side when Harry and Ron's backs were turned. Draco's eyes met hers and her heart momentarily plummeted when she took note of his blank expression. She began turning her head back to the front just in time to see Draco give her a small wink. It was done so subtly that it could have been mistaken as a spasm of his eyelid, for his expression didn't change. _Either he's playing some twisted game or he's taking some serious risks by doing that when he's surrounded by Slytherins. _Frankly, Hermione wasn't too thrilled about either scenario.

'So, what have you found out?' Harry asked without preamble as he piled mashed potato and sausages onto his plate.

'You aren't going to like this, but he isn't a Death Eater.' Hermione said quietly across the table to her friends.

'What?!' Harry almost shouted in disbelief.

'Shhh.' Hermione hissed when she saw that other students were now looking in their direction. 'It's true; I found the Pensieve and the memories didn't show anything to do with Death Eaters whatsoever. In fact they were all quite old.'

'I don't understand: what we figured out last night made so much sense.'

Hermione shrugged. 'I know but apparently we were overthinking it.'

'Hang on, what were the memories actually about?' asked Ron.

'What does that matter?' Hermione blurted out in a far from subtle shrill tone. 'I-I mean, now we know he isn't a Death Eater so isn't it a little trivial for me to tell you all the details?' She tried to recover, but Harry was looking at her suspiciously.

'Tell us 'Mione, I mean, it couldn't have possibly taken you two hours to just watch some memories. For one thing the written ones weren't very long and you're not the type to willingly miss a lesson, even if it _was_ History of Magic.' He said. It was a reasonable request, but Hermione knew she couldn't answer without lying to her friends. She didn't want to, but she wasn't ready to tell them everything either.

'They were about some girl Malfoy knew before coming to Hogwarts. The prophecy he mentioned was about his friendship with her and how it could scupper You-Know-Who's plans and potentially ruin the constant Pureblood ancestry of his family in the future, so Lucius wiped her memory. Ironically Draco is the victim here; and he could actually stop-'

'I'm sorry, 'Draco'?' Ron cut across her, looking bemused. Hermione inwardly cursed for her slip-up, but at that point she was thinking aloud rather than answering the question. _I wonder if he realises what is possible because of the prophecy; we are friends again- I think- so it could still come true, right? _Hermione made a mental note to ask Draco about the prophecy when she could. She turned her attention back to the conversation.

'Yes, '_Draco'._ That is his name isn't it?' She said coolly, as if it hadn't been a mistake to use his first name. 'Anyway, it did take a lot of time trying to link details from the written ones to the real ones: I had to be sure they were referring to the same event and there's that whole thing with the blanked out names so it took longer than I thought.' Hermione spoke faster than was necessary for she knew she had begun bending the truth now. 'What's more I had to figure out how to get into the Room of Requirement to get to the Pensieve in the first place, and I was up most of the night trying to find out where it was so I fell asleep after I'd got the answers I needed.' Ron seemed to believe her story and nodded silently, but Harry was still pushing her.

'This was all obviously a red herring then. Maybe this can't prove he's a follower of Voldemort but I've been watching him just now and he keeps touching his left arm. He's got a Dark Mark I know it. Maybe-'

'_Harry, drop it.' _Hermione snapped. Lying really didn't suit her and she was struggling to keep a straight face at this time. 'If you want to collar him in the corridor and roll up his sleeve then be my guest, but I'm telling you, _He. Isn't. A. Death. Eater.'_ She felt confident in saying this because she knew it was true; she had seen his left arm earlier and the only thing that adorned it was the string bracelet.

'What makes you so sure?' Harry hissed and Hermione banged her fist on the table in frustration, simultaneously trying to silently urge her friend to stop questioning her.

'Because. I _just _said that the prophecy could allow Malfoy to _stop _something Voldemort is planning, not _help_ him.'

'It can't come true if Lucius wiped that girl's memory though.'

'Things are rarely what they first appear to be, Harry.' Hermione was struggling to keep her voice down. 'Please stop obsessing over this. Sorry I snapped but you have been going on about it an awful lot recently.'

'She's right mate.' Ron said evenly. Hermione mouthed 'thank you' to Ron when Harry momentarily bowed his head to adjust his glasses.

'Sorry.' Harry conceded after taking a deep breath to simmer down. 'I'm just worried about these private lessons I'm to have with Dumbledore. I can't help linking them to Voldemort somehow, that's all.' Hermione nodded in understanding. That was the last the trio spoke of the subject for the remainder of the day, which Hermione was grateful for.

'_Hermione, _

_I told you I would owl you soon, didn't I? To be honest I hadn't planned this far ahead but I'm assuming we will have to see each other in secret from now on: I've been getting the third degree off the Slytherins all day (turns out Pansy was walking behind us most of the way down to the Great Hall). Don't worry; I think I've talked my way out of it._

_Meet me in the Astronomy Tower at 8:00pm on Saturday. I figured it would be safer to meet in the evening and it's much more open and pleasant than the Room of Requirement. _

_Draco._

_P.S – I know Scarhead and Weasley will be suspicious so I put a charm on this parchment so when they see it, it will (hopefully) look like a message about a Daily Prophet subscription.'_

Hermione did her best to hold back her smile as she read the note from Draco the next morning. It amazed her how he was so prompt contacting her; she half expected him to make her wait a stupid amount of time like the git she knew he could be. The note had also come with a blank square of parchment, which puzzled Hermione but she tucked it away in her pocket nonetheless. She had a sneaking suspicion that Draco put it there for a reason.

'What's that about, 'Mione?' Ron asked. He and Harry had been watching her closely ever since the Eagle Owl had delivered the message. Hermione couldn't blame them, for they all knew well that Draco has an Eagle Owl.

'Just something about my subscription for the Daily Prophet.' She answered, sceptically presenting the parchment to them, hoping that Draco's charm had worked. She exhaled slowly when neither of them raised an objection and resumed eating.

Saturday just wouldn't come quick enough. Hermione still had important questions she wanted to ask Draco, and weirdly enough, she wanted to see him again. Properly. She had easily settled back into the routine of exchanging insults with him whenever they crossed paths around school, but they had also seemed to have begun a game of chicken.

Draco had taken to winking at her or wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at her (_Dammit, how did he know that would draw the biggest reaction from me?)_ at inopportune moments, namely when she was mid-conversation with Harry or Ron. She was forced to try not to react and prevent giggling or looking at him for too long, which was very difficult. The first time it occurred, Hermione almost spilled her Potions ingredients in shock, and was rewarded with a smug smile from the blond across the room. She had accidentally on purpose bumped into him when the class began clearing away.

'What are you playing at?' She hissed as she tried her best to move her mouth as little as possible.

'I don't know what you're talking about.' Draco had replied innocently.

By Friday, Hermione had one too many times fallen for his game and one too many times was she almost caught giggling at him by Harry and Ron, so she decided to get revenge. She felt startlingly uncomfortable winking at the best of times, but in this case, the result of wiping the smug expression off Draco's face was worth the embarrassment. Their eyes had locked part way through Arithmancy and Hermione winked at him before he could beat her to it. Draco's eyes had widened in surprise but much to her disappointment that was all there was to it.

It was at this moment when Hermione learnt the purpose of the square of parchment he had delivered to her on Tuesday. She had taken to using it to scribble down rough formulae and her workings out, but about a minute after the winking incident, a message had appeared in the top corner and her own writing faded away.

_I appreciate you sharing your answers with me, finally returning the favour for the help I've given you recently? _

Hermione was taken aback. She knew the author of the note would be Draco but it took her a while for her brain to put two and two together all the same.

_Nice try, by the way._

A new message had replaced the first. It was practically dripping with smugness. Hermione penned a reply back quickly.

_Git. You realise Harry and Ron are getting suspicious because of this._

_I'm not worried, they're hardly going to believe I'm not a complete arse when I continue to act as such around them…besides it's amusing watching you try not to react._

He was trying, and succeeding to wind her up. It was very convenient that he found a way they could communicate which also allowed him to annoy her when she could do little to make him stop.

_I'm half tempted to just not show up tomorrow if you carry on. _She wrote.

_Please. _

_What's that supposed to mean?_

_You still have questions, and I'm the only one who can give you answers. Besides, you want to see me again don't you?_

_Don't flatter yourself._

_Well I take that as a 'yes' since you didn't deny it. _

_You self-righteous snake._

_I know, nice of you to notice._

The banter continued for the remainder of the lesson and Hermione was horrified when she realised what little work she had done. What had she let herself in for? Was Draco going to do this every lesson? She'd get no work done at this rate. Hermione sighed. _I suppose that's what I get for befriending a Slytherin._

Conveniently, Hermione didn't have to lie to Harry and Ron about where she was going the next evening. Dumbledore had summoned Harry for his first private lesson and Ron had decided to get some extra Quidditch practice done before the try-outs. Draco already assumed that she couldn't wait to see him again, so she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction by showing up bang on time. Hermione left Gryffindor Tower at 8:00pm and took a casual stroll up to the Astronomy Tower.

The door was locked and Hermione felt apprehensive about using a spell to open it: it was widely known that the Astronomy Tower was where couples would come for some 'alone time' and she didn't much fancy the idea of bursting in on an intimate moment, even if she _was_ a Prefect. She wouldn't entirely put it past Draco to have set this whole thing up so she did end up walking in on a couple either. To be safe, Hermione took out the square of parchment from her pocket and wrote:

_Are you here? Open the door if you are._

_Of course I'm here. I was polite enough to show up on time._

Hermione rolled her eyes and unlocked the door. Draco was stood with his back to her on the balcony, leaning on his forearms on the railings.

'I'm barely five minutes late you prat.' Hermione said as she walked up to him and stood beside him. He said nothing but turned his head to give her a sideways half smile and raised an eyebrow at her. There was a gentle breeze that caused his white-blond fringe to be blown sideways across his face, and his eyes seemed to twinkle with the reflection of the stars: he looked so mysterious. It was this that brought Hermione's thoughts back to the questions she needed answering. She opened her mouth to speak but Draco, who hadn't broken eye contact, beat her to it.

'You are way too easy to wind up.' He laughed and Hermione elbowed him.

'That – is for almost blowing our cover with your little games.' She said. 'And I'd appreciate it if you didn't use this parchment constantly every lesson.'

'Don't worry, I only meant it to be used if one of us really needed to contact the other before we could properly talk face-to-face. Owls would draw too much attention after a while, and besides I needed you to find out what it should be used for.' Hermione nodded in understanding and looked out at the view. The sky was deep blue and cloudless; the full moon highlighted the stone buildings of the castle beautifully and the reflection of it on the Black Lake seemed to dance and shine along the surface. It really was very relaxing up here; Hermione's head felt clear for the first time in days.

'It's such a nice night.' She commented.

'I know. This has been my 'thinking space' for years: the atmosphere's just so peaceful and tranquil up here.' Draco said from beside her as he looked out at the landscape.

'What do you come here to think about?' Hermione asked; genuinely interested. Draco furrowed his eyebrows as he thought.

'Well er, for years it's been to think about well, you.' He said uncomfortably. 'Don't go getting the wrong idea now, I know how let's say, _presumptuous, _you Gryffindors can be.' He lifted an eyebrow and looked down at her, silently poking fun at their 'Death Eater theory'. 'Every so often it got too much for me having to pretend I hated you and have you look at me the same way, so I came up here to remember our childhood friendship. We were incredibly close, you know. The memories you saw were only short snippets and we wouldn't have known each other more than a few days, so it sounds crazy but we just bonded so quickly. It was almost like it was –'

'- written in the stars, so to speak.' Hermione finished for him as the prophecy came to the front of her mind once more. Draco sighed.

'Yeah. I felt incredibly alone after Father altered your memory, like there was a piece of me missing. It was so strange. Anyway recently I've come up here to clear my head whenever the idea of possibly becoming a Death Eater has preyed on my mind too much.' He finished. 'And just for future reference, I like being interrupted about as much as you do.' Draco nudged Hermione with his elbow softly.

'Hypocrite.' She said as she raised an eyebrow back at him. 'So I take it that you don't want to become a Death Eater then?' Hermione's heart was banging in anticipation of his answer.

'It's complicated. Naturally, as a Slytherin I think of it as some sort of twisted honour and I'm determined to prove my capability. Not by being a Death Eater, but being chosen specifically to carry out a task as it has been hinted before. But it's so scary at the same time. I'd barely have any freedom, in any sense, like a prisoner. I can't exactly say no either, I'd be killed.' Draco's face had contorted as he spoke, and his chest was rising and falling quickly.

'Of course you have a choice, Draco.' Hermione touched her friend's arm gently. 'Whilst you're still at Hogwarts you can't exactly be dragged away, especially when Dumbledore's headmaster.'

'I know but it's my family that concerns me most. I know they can't forcibly take me away, but if I didn't follow instruction then my Father would disown me. I'd be shunned and dishonoured. Of course word would get out to other Death Eater families, which will then spread to Crabbe and Goyle. I'd be unwelcome in my own house… in both senses of the word.' He ran his free hand through his hair.

Hermione hadn't realised how complex it was to be him. All this time of being bullied by him and the whole time he had been the victim. He hadn't had a happy childhood by the sound of it, and now his own Father was manipulating him to join You-Know-Who. Her heart went out to him, and she wished she could help. Then… of course!

'What you said earlier, about it being almost meant to be because of how quickly we bonded as children, maybe that's the key to getting you out of this.'

'What do you mean?' Draco asked.

'The Prophecy, Draco. It implied that you and I would become friends quickly and we would 'become one', whatever that means, and that our friendship could be the force which could stop You-Know-Who's plan.'

'What plan?'

'I don't know, do I? It never said, but don't you see? Lucius wiped my memory because he didn't want it to come true, but now we're friends again, so there's still hope!' Draco solemnly shook his head.

'You have a good point, but I don't know how much time we have before I'm recruited, and frankly, now that I have you back, I'd rather not spend the little time we have together getting worked up about it.'

'It said something about you're personal values changing, maybe if you stood up to your Dad-'

'You're acting like it's so simple. It isn't, far from it. You don't know what he's capable of. I'm not brave like you, Hermione. Please can you just drop it.' Draco was becoming annoyed and distressed by the tone of his voice. Hermione sighed.

'I'm sorry, I was just –'

'Hermione leave it.'

'I'm only trying to help.'

'_Don't._' Draco hissed through gritted teeth. His eyes were hard and his jaw was tensed. He took a few seconds to calm himself down before continuing.

'I know you're here if I need you, but this Death Eater business is my problem, and only mine. I know how smart you are, but there are still things within the prophecy you don't know the meaning of. Face it; it's out of our control. One day we might unknowingly fulfil the 'becoming one' thing but there's nothing either of us can do in the meantime.' Draco said. His voice sounded strained as if he was trying to keep his temper from rising again.

'You know you're way too proud for your own good sometimes. You can't keep pushing people away who care about you.' Hermione said; frustrated that she couldn't get through to him, that he didn't understand what was possible now they were friends again. She turned and began walking, wanting to run out of the room and slam the door behind her. _Why can't he understand?!_

'It's inevitable I'm going to lose you again, one way or another. I become a Death Eater; I won't be able to see you. We fulfil the prophecy and my Father would do something horrible to us both for going against him.' Draco called after her. His voice had cracked as he finished and Hermione turned back to see a tear trickling down his pale face. He was breathing hard and had a pleading look in his eye. She slowly walked back over to him, conceding he had a point.

'Then what was the point of doing this? If you were going to lose me again either way, then why would you go through all that effort to tell me the truth in the first place? Did it not cross your mind how I would be affected in all of this?' Hermione asked numbly as she looked up into his pained face. It was the wrong place and time to ask, but she couldn't help herself.

'Like I said in my letter the other day, I never expected you would agree to be friends afterwards so I'm sorry that this is messing with your feelings, that was never my intention. As I said before, I'd feel much better in myself knowing that you at least knew how we were.' Draco never broke eye contact in this time and lifted a hand to cup Hermione's cheek. 'I could happily become a Death Eater knowing that you know who I really am. Just to see you smile at me has made me the happiest I've felt in a long time.' He whispered.

'Draco, has this got anything to do with that memory about the argument?' It was a stupid and irrelevant question, but Hermione suddenly remembered that he hadn't answered her last time. Draco dropped his hand from her face and cleared his throat.

'It's late, your friends are probably wondering where you are.' He said. 'Can we meet again same time same place next week? And I know you mean well, but I'd love to spend some time with you when I don't have to think about this.' Hermione wanted to protest but she didn't want to distress him any more than she already had.

'Okay, I promise. But I won't promise to drop this. I won't sit back waiting for you to get a letter telling you you've been chosen. I swear I won't say any more on the subject to you, but you can't stop me trying to work it out on my own. As for your Father, he can't possibly do anything to us if we fulfilled the prophecy: making it happen in the first place banks on you going against him so it will hardly make a difference afterwards.' She said.

'You're so stubborn, but I appreciate the sentiment.' Draco smiled down at her. 'I know it probably sounds like I've given up on the prophecy, but I'd rather not get my hopes up and be disappointed.' Hermione nodded in understanding and tiptoed to kiss his cheek. She hadn't planned on doing it but her gut was telling her that this boy had a serious lack of compassion and love, of any sort, in his lifetime, and that pushing her away when she offered to help had been a defence mechanism because he was so used to not relying on people. He said nothing but his grey eyes were wide when she drew back from him.

'See you soon, Draco.' Hermione said to him as she left the Astronomy Tower and began the journey up to the Common Room.

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**A/N: 3 more chapters to go after this, tension will be building... **

**Thanks for reading, please follow/ review :) **

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**Update: Sorry for the longer wait, I've been pretty busy lately. But I promise to have Chapter 8 uploaded by this Friday night (10/1/14 UK time) Thanks again, you guys are awesome!**


	8. 8 - Changes

**A/N: As usual, I own nothing. Sorry for the slight delay, I've re-written the first half of this about three times. Hope it's okay anyway! **

**Jnna01: Thank you for your support on chapter 1 :)**

**Cossettely: Big thanks for your insightful and constructive review! :D**

**TheEvilDuckOfDoom: Cheers :D (awesome pen name by the way)**

**qsklue: Thank you so much for your continued review-support throughout the last couple of chapters, it means a lot :D **

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The next few weeks seemed to fly by. Hermione continued to meet up with Draco every week and each time she found it easier to jump right into a conversation without the initial awkward small talk. Sure, Hermione now knew the truth behind Draco's attitude towards her over the last few years, but that didn't change the fact that their personalities still clashed and he was generally still an annoying ferret despite having a surprising more vulnerable side to his personality, so they often found themselves at loggerheads over trivial things which they would argue about via the enchanted parchment. Hermione sighed to herself amusedly as she recalled their most recent debate about choosing Quidditch as a career path. Of course she had been arguing against the cause.

'_International fame, travel opportunities, money!' Draco had written to her during Transfiguration one day. _

'_Not to mention constant stalking by the press. Why on earth would you need more money anyway? You're bloody loaded.' Hermione had scrawled back._

'_Is this just because you can't fly for toffee?' The reply was practically dripping with smugness._

'_No.' Hermione lied as she wrote back, feeling her cheeks warm. She huffed when his reply appeared._

'_Liar.' _

'_It's not a very stable job is it? You'd constantly be evaluated and therefore could be kicked out of the team at any moment… provided one were to get on a team in the first place.'_

'_Why does this bother you so much if you claim to 'not give a rat's arse' about Quidditch?'_

'_Because it completely throws me at how bloody obsessed some people can get about it. For the most part it's nothing more than a few brainless idiots showing off on broomsticks.'_

'_Says the girl who briefly dated Viktor Krum…' _

It was typical really, that the pair were complete opposites on so many levels but the thing that united them the most was the attribute of being downright stubborn. Hermione was determined to never lose an argument to Draco Malfoy (even if they were friends now), but she also knew that he was equally determined to win against her, and hence even the most idiotic debate could easily escalate and last for days. Hermione had once or twice thought about the possibility that their stubborn natures were actually the cause of the prolonged tension between them. She much preferred this conclusion rather than admit that Draco had been a pretty good actor all these years.

Surprising even herself, she noted that since the truth about the past had come out, she had bowed out of arguments with Draco much easier than she had before. It was probably some cruel act of her subconscious mind upon knowing that he may be a prat, but she also knew the truth now and so on some level, he deserved the occasional ego-boost. _Why do I have to be so damn compassionate? _She often thought to herself.

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Hermione classed herself lucky that so far, she had only had to lie outright to her friends on one occasion when she left to meet Draco. Usually their meetings were scheduled for weekend nights so Harry and Ron would be otherwise engaged at private lessons or Quidditch practice, but on the Sunday closest to her birthday, she had received a message on the parchment telling her to meet him at the Black Lake by the mouth of the forest at lunchtime. Hermione didn't feel proud about lying, but the curiosity had gotten the better of her.

_Godric, normally Harry and Ron can see right through me whenever I've tried to lie about stuff before… so many surprise parties have been ruined because of me and my pathetic acting skills. Do they know I've snuck away to see Draco and not the library? No, stop it Hermione, you're being paranoid. Maybe you've just got better at lying…. Ha! Who am I kidding? I bet it's Draco's Slytherin influence finally rubbing off on me. _

She continued her internal rant about Slytherins on her journey down to the lake and immediately proceeded to regret her silent insults she had thrown towards Draco for corrupting her and whatnot as her eyes fell on him in person. He was sat on a grassy bank upon a thick blanket, upon which a picnic was laid out. Of course, Draco had most likely stolen the food from the kitchens but it was the gesture and thought that counted, right? It was times like this that Draco's behaviour totally caught her off guard. He was so unpredictable and spontaneous and in that moment it was almost laughable that they had been refusing to speak to one another just the day before because Draco had graded Hermione's potion 'unfairly' in their peer assessment task. (He had awarded her an E.)

After this, Hermione had begun to relax more around him and stopped her mind from automatically thinking of him as a two-dimensional Slytherin. He was probably the most complicated person she knew and as much as it pained her to admit it, the boy did have some redeeming qualities about him. The lack of this prior judgement to all of their meetings made Hermione feel extremely unguarded and naked because she never knew what to expect. She eventually conceded that Draco's spontaneity was what made him such an interesting person. It was scary but simultaneously thrilling to be around him: a somewhat refreshing change to the safe and easy routine of Hermione's friendships with Ron and Harry.

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Full of surprises as Draco was, Hermione soon discovered that he was actually a really good listener when he decided to stop being a pain and making smart-arse remarks all the time. By mid-October she had divulged personal and family-orientated anecdotes and secrets that she hadn't told Harry or Ron until third year. She felt bonkers about this but she somehow felt like she could trust him. Not once during these stories did he make a comment or pull a disgusted expression about her blood status or background. Hermione felt positively triumphant that Draco was finally showing maturity and that he could accept and maybe even respect her for who she was. She knew she had had his word that he was no longer prejudiced against her the day she viewed his memories, but witnessing proof of it was an entirely different matter.

Draco too had told her secrets; awful secrets about his childhood that he never opened up about to anyone else. Hermione discovered that whilst he was very much spoiled on a material level, he was rarely shown any sign of affection, physically or emotionally. Hermione had put an arm around his narrow frame as he told of how Lucius had regularly punished him with Dark curses, even threatening him with the Cruciatus Curse upon hearing that she had beaten him in their first year exams and how he couldn't remember ever receiving a hug or praise from his Father. The Slytherin spoke of how it was in his nature to be short and cold towards people to avoid being treated the same way by anyone else, and how he had concluded that this emotional damage had been the source of his lack of companionship during his childhood before he met Hermione.

By the end of almost every tale, Hermione could hardly blame him for wanting to prove himself by becoming a Death Eater. In his view he probably saw it as a gleaming opportunity to finally get the praise he never received as a child. _Could he possibly be that desperate that he was willing to risk so much just for the sake of it?_ Hermione sighed at the thought, feeling more sympathetic than ever towards Draco as she looked at the back of his blond head in Charms one morning. _He may be putting on a brave face but now that he's told me this much I get the feeling that he was so distressed about the prophecy still being able to come true because he knows that relies on him going against his family's and therefore Lucius' wishes. And that thought must terrify him, but he's too damn proud to admit it._

As Hermione came to this realisation she sadly (and annoyedly) had to admit defeat on figuring out how they could work together to make the prophecy come true. She had dissected every possible meaning of it, and it was abundantly clear that Draco absolutely had to somehow go against what is expected of him from his family: '_following the footsteps of his heart and not his family values…'. _So it was hopeless to continue analysing it if Draco wasn't prepared to cooperate with it, which was a great shame because Hermione was sure that the first part of the prophecy had already happened. Moreover, it meant that it was inevitable that he'd join the Death Eaters and who knows what that would mean for them?

'_Friendship will blossom and personal values will be altered.' _

Indeed, their renewed friendship had been decidedly unexpected and strange to get used to, but Hermione couldn't deny how close they had become in such a short time, especially with the telling of their deepest secrets. As for the 'personal values' statement, Hermione suspected that that had come true four years ago when Draco's prejudice of Muggleborns diminished and he had written her that note. Hermione sighed again. _Who knows what would have happened if I never kept that note. I'd have no idea at all about any of this. Would I even have believed Draco at all? _

Hermione's lapse in concentration caused her goblet of vinegar to turn into an obscure red gloopy substance instead of the required wine. Ron looked especially smug upon seeing this, as he had successfully performed the charm, albeit following several failed attempts. Hermione cursed under her breath and looked up from her desk when she heard cruel laughter from in front of her. It was Draco.

'Looks like Little Miss Perfect Mudblood is losing her touch. It's not that difficult, I mean even King Weasel can do it!' He sneered at her as Crabbe and Goyle laughed and jeered at her from beside him. She made a rude hand gesture in his direction as she tried and succeeded to perform the charm on second attempt.

After that, Hermione's focus was well and truly gone; Draco's behaviour had thrown her completely. Yes, they made comments towards one another in the corridors for show but he had never said anything to her in class; they had agreed not to do that in case they overdid it. What confused her even more was how he said what he did knowing about her fear and humiliation she suffered in failing… on anything. And he decided to draw more people's attention to her in this circumstance, which made Hermione very pissed off with him. What's more, he had actually called her 'Mudblood'; a name he hadn't called her in so long. Even in their faux-enemy act around the castle he hadn't dared use that word. She was tempted to send him a message on the square parchment, but it was too risky when the other Slytherins were so close to him.

Hermione didn't know if it was the increasing closeness of their friendship, or simply the confusion that was currently overpowering her brain, but lately there appeared to be a greater contrast than ever in how Draco treated her in public compared to when they were alone. It was difficult to tell, as it had been five days since she last saw him alone, but Hermione got the feeling that his comments had been less tongue-in-cheek lately and much more like they were in first and second year. Draco had stopped exchanging messages with her via the parchment too: she hadn't heard from him in days for conversation or argument – the last of which had been the potion grading fiasco from the previous month. His lack of communication concerned her.

She knew she was probably worrying too much, but Hermione immediately scribbled a note to him when she arrived at the library for her free lesson.

_Thanks for that. I know we have to make it look realistic around our friends but embarrassing me in front of everyone was too far. And 'Mudblood'? Really?! And there was me thinking you were finally maturing._

Hermione waited and waited but no reply appeared on her sheet of parchment. She sighed and opened her Transfiguration textbook. Her eyes scanned the words but her brain wasn't paying attention. Instead, it was telling Hermione over and over that Draco must have misplaced his parchment; but somehow, she remained unconvinced.

* * *

Draco's strange behaviour had continued for the rest of the day so Hermione was taken aback to receive a letter from his Eagle Owl the next morning at breakfast. She felt somewhat relieved about this because it supported the theory that he had lost his enchanted parchment. Nevertheless, the delivery by owl made the attached note seem foreboding and Hermione felt uneasy as she took out the parchment from the envelope.

_Hermione,_

_It's happened and I'm going through with it._

_Don't contact me again._

_Draco._

_P.S. The flower had a meaning. That meaning is appropriate now as well as then._

Hermione couldn't contain her anger as she read the cold, heartless words written upon the parchment. She threw it down and banged her fist onto the table beside it but it was ineffective in shifting her fury at Draco. A sharp pain shot up her right arm but she was past the point of caring; all she could think about was how Draco was going to become a Death Eater and not even have the decency to tell her in person, or at least break the news to her in a more sensitive way. Hermione yanked out the square parchment and scrawled several messages out of sheer desperation. She almost broke the nib of her quill from the vast amount of pressure she was putting onto it but continued without adjusting her force.

_Draco Malfoy, you utter bastard! How dare you treat me like this after EVERYTHING! Was telling me this in person too much to ask? _

_Typical really, can't face up to me like the coward I know you are._

_We both knew this would happen eventually so why did you have to be so evasive about telling me?_

_Draco, talk to me!_

The increasing ache in Hermione's hand was enough for the anger to drain out of her and she slumped onto the wooden table. She felt numb, and could feel tears brimming in her eyes but she was determined not to cry in public, especially after that stunt Draco pulled in Charms yesterday. She pointlessly sat and re-read the message over and over, determined to find some kind of hidden message like the Pensieve delivery note. Sadly, there was none, just the cryptic conclusion about the flower. Honestly this was potentially the last she would ever hear from Draco and he had to make it almost impossible to figure out. _Maybe that was the point, or maybe this riddle was just a distraction so he could slip away quietly whilst this occupied me. What flower anyway? I know that rings a bell somewhere…_

Hermione's thoughts were interrupted as the blurry shapes of Harry and Ron approached her from the Great Hall's entrance. She rubbed her eyes so she could focus and she saw that their heads were close together and bent over a piece of parchment. They were talking intently and hadn't appeared to notice she was there until they were about ten feet away from her. Ron looked up and locked eyes with Hermione's. His expression was sour and his ears were bright scarlet. Beside him, Harry looked concerned, and too, was staring at Hermione. A long, uncomfortable silence stretched between them until finally, Ron spoke.

'What the bloody hell do you think you've been playing at, Hermione?' He scowled at her as he reached her and stood over her.

'Care to explain what you're talking about before you go accusing me of something, Ronald?' Hermione asked as she stood up as well, furrowing her brows in confusion.

'Malfoy, that's bloody what.'

Hermione's heart dropped through her stomach. 'What about Malfoy?'

'Don't act all innocent. We know how pally you two are. I always wondered why you were so against the idea of him being a Death Eater, and now we know why.' Ron shoved the parchment in her hand and Hermione felt her heart sink even lower. It was Draco's square parchment, still brandished with the last message she had sent to him.

'Ron, please, this isn't the time or the place. I-'

'Don't. I just don't know how you could do this. It's Malfoy! The prick that's pretty much treated you like shit on the bottom of his shoe since first year. How the bloody hell could you be _friends _with him; on first name terms as well. How did you think we would feel when we found out? We've been thinking all sorts, like he's confunded you or used the Imperius Curse on you to treat him like the God he thinks he is. You could have been in danger for all we knew, especially 'cause his Daddy is in league with You-Know-Who.' Ron was now making a scene in front of the whole school and Hermione could feel her cheeks burning. She stood her ground nevertheless, as a true Gryffindor should do.

'Look, it's very complicated Ron and that is why I haven't felt comfortable telling you two yet. I'd be prepared to explain everything to you when you've _calmed down_.' Hermione had raised her voice at the end of her sentence for Ron had begun stamping back out of the Hall. _What a bloody fantastic morning!_ Hermione thought to herself as she raked a sweaty palm through her hair and slumped back onto the bench as she tried to calm her heart rate down. Harry sat down next to her and did his best to ignore the numerous students who were still staring in their direction. After a moments silence, an awkward buzz of conversation filled the Hall.

'He's just worried about you. We both are.' Harry said. His tone wasn't exactly friendly, but at least he was being calm. Hermione couldn't really blame either of her friends for behaving like they were.

'I know, I _have _been around Ron for six years.' Hermione laughed awkwardly. 'Look, I'm really sorry for not saying anything to you, and I'm sorry for making you worry so much _because _I didn't say anything to you. I meant what I said, it has been so complicated.'

'We've dealt with worse things… together.' Harry said, still not looking at her.

'When it all first happened I couldn't begin to fully comprehend what was going on and what I had found out. Before I say anything else, can I just ask, where did you find that parchment?' Hermione said timidly. She hated it when Harry and Ron were angry with her.

'I saw Malfoy drop it when we were leaving Charms yesterday. Then that message appeared about making things 'realistic' around friends and then the 'Mudblood' comment made it pretty obvious. Then everything seemed to fall into place, especially when you've been so quick to refuse Death Eater allegations by that 'things are rarely what they appear' crap or whatever it was.' Harry finally looked at her as Hermione shuffled uncomfortably beside him at his last words. His green eyes widened in realisation. 'Oh Godric are they Malfoy's words? Merlin, Hermione, has he brainwashed you or something?'

Hermione became overwhelmed with the references to Draco being a Death Eater and the message he had just sent her. There was no way she was letting Harry see that now so she quickly shoved it into her pocket when he momentarily turned away. She was becoming more and more fraught by the second.

'Those written down memories we found at the start of term were about me, okay?!' She blurted out. Harry was staring at her in utter disbelief. His mouth kept opening and closing like he wanted to say something but just couldn't form the words.

'Draco and I were friends as children, before Hogwarts, and er, there was this Prophecy thing and Lucius, and my memories. Then I didn't know him and he knew me but he hated me in first year because I got better grades than him. That convinced him Muggleborns are scum. Then second year, and the note, still under my pillow. Didn't know who sent it until I saw the memories…came with a flower, and –Oh Merlin, of course!' Hermione was certain she was on the verge of a panic attack, trying to summarise everything to Harry so he would understand. His mouth was now hanging open but Hermione had just realised something and was searching for someone in the crowded Hall.

She jumped up from the table and jogged after Neville Longbottom, who was beginning to head towards the Entrance Hall. Harry was calling after her but talking to Neville seemed top of Hermione's list of priorities, which was unexpected even for her as she could never stand it when Harry and Ron were mad at her. She conceded that she would have some serious grovelling to do later.

'Neville, wait.' She called hoarsely after him. He stopped and whirled around to face her.

'Hermione, are you all right? You don't look well. Maybe you should go back to bed or -'

'I'm fine.' She lied. 'I need a bit of information, about a certain kind of flower.' Neville looked stunned but undeniably proud that the brightest witch in their year was asking _him _for Herbology knowledge.

'Sure, what do you need to know?' He said, perhaps too eagerly.

'Tell me, what are the symbolic meanings of the azalea?' Hermione's brain was still scrambled but her gut was telling her that she was on to something. Neville looked slightly confused but was too polite to question her.

'Azalea? Merlin I was thinking you'd want to know about some rare magical rhododendron or something.' He laughed but hastily continued upon seeing Hermione's expression.

'Well in some cultures it's a symbol for femininity or passion-' Hermione felt her heart sink in disappointment. '- But if given to someone it's most commonly used to express sentiments such as 'take care while I'm away' or 'take care of yourself for me.' A massive weight seemed to lift from Hermione's stomach and she could have kissed Neville for helping her uncover the message in Draco's final note. At that moment, Harry came running up to them demanding to know what was going on.

'Harry, I'm sorry I promise I'll tell you everything later. I have to do something. Urgently.' With that, Hermione thanked Neville and sped off out of the Hall and up the Grand Staircase.

_So Draco does still care! 'That flower had a meaning then. That meaning is appropriate now as well…' He could have only meant the azalea he left me in second year! 'Take care while I'm away.' Honestly he could have just said that instead of beating around the bush and confusing the hell out of me like that. How could he possibly know I still remembered about the flower let alone that I still had it? _

_Unless he didn't know, and it was pure chance that I found out the meaning: potentially I could have been oblivious and lived the rest of my life hating his guts. That's so terrible from his point of view…_

Hermione arrived at her destination: The Room of Requirement passageway. She had no real reason for getting there so fast, and to that exact location. She just had a _feeling. _As the door materialised before her and she gripped the handle, Hermione just prayed that her instinct was right.

Her heart leapt as she flung the door open to reveal the same room Draco had indirectly lead her to last month, and to see the Slytherin himself sat on the black sofa with his back to her. Hermione was so relieved that he was still in the castle that she headed straight across the room to him, failing to notice that a tall black cabinet now occupied the spot where the Pensieve once stood.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading, please review if you liked it :) The next chapter has all been planned and I'm very excited about it! As far as I know I think chapter 10 will be the last, but there are a lot of different ways I can take this so we'll wait and see... perhaps a sequel will be in order. **

**Thanks again! :) **


	9. 9 - Pain

**A/N: I own nothing, and I thank you qsklue once again for your kind review :) **

* * *

Draco turned and spotted her before she had reached him. His usually immaculate hair was dishevelled and his skin now carried a sickly grey-ish hue under his eyes and cheekbones. His jaw was clenched and his eyes had widened in shock for a split second before hardening and being covered in a shadow from his furrowed eyebrows.

'Why did you come here?' He said through gritted teeth.

'An explanation.' Hermione said haughtily, trying to ignore his sickly pallor.

'This really isn't the time. You need to leave.' Draco replied.

'Don't speak to me like that and act like you hate me. I know you don't; I figured out your little riddle in your letter this morning.' Hermione said, feeling a little hurt.

'And yet I thought that would be enough to make you _stay away_, knowing that I don't hate you.' Draco spat. His eyes kept darting from her to the other side of the room but Hermione kept her focus on him.

'Is this why you've been pushing me away lately? Because you didn't have the guts to tell me to my face that you've been recruited? And what the hell is going on?' Hermione added as an afterthought, finally noticing the black cabinet in the corner.

Draco stood up at her words; his hands were clenched into fists at his sides. 'What did you just say to me?' He said icily.

'What's that cabinet for?' Hermione rephrased her last question.

'Not that.' He hissed.

'Oh, what then: that you didn't have the guts? I should have expected it really, coming from a Slytherin.' She scowled. Draco suddenly took a step closer to her and grabbed her arm in a vice-like grip.

'Don't you dare. Don't you dare call me a coward. You are seriously going to regret saying that, unless you _leave now.' _His eyes never left Hermione's and she was so close to him now that there seemed to be a hint of something else behind the anger. Draco looked almost panicked and scared, but in the moment Hermione was too annoyed for it to register.

'Let. Go.' She glared up at him. He loosened his grip considerably but didn't release her. 'If you aren't a coward then what are you? That letter could well have been the last I ever heard of you, did you really have to be so _cold?' _

'Well I was thinking that if I came across that way then logically, the last thing you would have done was to seek me out, and we wouldn't be having this argument right now.' He hesitated slightly before continuing. 'You don't help yourself at all being such an overly sensitive, nosy Mudblood sometimes.' At that, Hermione slapped Draco hard across the face. She was satisfied at the red mark that had immediately appeared. Draco lifted his right hand to rub it, releasing her from his grasp, which was Hermione's chance to run, but a stubborn part of her brain was telling her to stand her ground.

'Tell me what's going on. I've gotten to know the real you and I know this isn't it.'

'Leave.' He repeated shakily but firmly as he rubbed his cheek. The anger had drained from his entire body at her actions but Hermione felt the sincerity in his voice and her gut was telling her to just do what he said and leave, but her mind was reeling so much that she hesitated.

'Not until you've told me what-'

Draco growled in annoyance. 'Merlin you are such a pain!' He said, and to Hermione's bewilderment he closed the gap between them, grabbing her arm once more and cradling the back of her head with his free hand. Their lips crashed together as Draco planted a single firm and desperate kiss onto her mouth. It was nowhere near the fairytale sweep-you-off-your-feet experience Hermione had often read about, but something told her that that wasn't Draco's intention. He pulled away after a couple of seconds and held Hermione's shoulders. It was over before she knew what was going on, but her lips tingled from the ghost of where Draco's had just been.

'Don't ever call me a coward, ever. Believe it or not, this has all been for your benefit. For once in your life restrain yourself from interrupting me; I didn't want you to find out this way but if this is the only way to make you leave then so be it.' Draco lightly shook Hermione's shoulders urgently as he spoke, his eyes never leaving hers. She was silent as he continued, still coming to terms with what had just happened. 'I'm doing this to protect you. The letter I received from my Father told me that he would be coming to pick me up today to get my Mark and be briefed for my task. That's a Vanishing Cabinet.' He indicated to the tall object that replaced the Pensieve. 'The other one is in Borgin and Burke's and together, they create a passage for my Father to enter the castle. I needed you to keep away from me for your own safety. He can't know that you know about our past and the prophecy, or we are both in big trouble.' Draco spoke quickly and urgently, but his face had softened considerably. 'So excuse me for the way I decided to go about it but I really didn't want to have to explain everything to you, I don't know how much time we have. I'd be willing to risk you being angry at me for Salazar knows how long knowing that you'd be safe.'

'Draco, I-I had no idea. I'm so sorry.' Hermione said sincerely. She felt a sweep of gratitude for him in that moment for his caring actions. Her cheeks had warmed in embarrassment for having been so angry with him that morning knowing the truth now, but she had to hand it to him, at least his plan had been effective. 'But you didn't have to do all of this for me. I've faced more Death Eaters than just the one before.'

'What can I say, I must have a Slytherin thirst for glory.' He smirked and raised an eyebrow at her, still gripping her shoulders. 'But in all seriousness, last term, you did have about four or five others fighting them too so its not like you handled them alone. And well, since this is the last time I'll see you, I suppose I may as well tell you what you've been wanting to know.' He gulped and raked a hand through his hair before continuing, releasing Hermione again. 'That memory you've been wondering about, the one about me witnessing an argument, that was about you as well.'

Hermione was taken aback. 'But when did that happen?'

'Fourth year, the Yule Ball.'

'Oh.' Hermione gasped, covering her mouth and meeting Draco's gaze.

'Yeah, that was a tough night for me given the circumstances. From your perception I was still a complete arse and it was very difficult having to restrain myself from cracking and talking to you that night. You looked stunning, I'm guessing that was the first time you've felt beautiful as well as looked it, but then Weasley upset you. It was horrible seeing it and not being able to do anything.'

'Where are you going with this Draco?' Hermione breathed. Her heart was thumping with the suspense.

Draco let go of her then and lifted his hands to his face, pressing his palms together and resting his lips on his fingertips. His eyes were wandering uncertainly, first looking at the floor, then at Hermione, at the Vanishing Cabinet, and back to Hermione again. Draco lowered his hands and placed them in his pockets, now chewing his bottom lip. Several times, he opened his mouth to speak but ended up talking himself out of it and closing it again. He was staring intently and meaningfully at Hermione, and she looked into his eyes, searching for an answer. More often than not this was the only way to determine his emotions given his usual stoic countenance. His grey eyes were stormy and bottomless as they always had been, but as she focused on them, there was definitely something there, something she hadn't seen before.

'It doesn't matter, it's not important.' Draco's eyes snapped away from Hermione's after an age seemed to have passed. He cleared his throat and leant against the wall casually, though somehow Hermione was unconvinced that what he had to say was really no big deal as he was suggesting. In fact she had a pretty good idea of what it could have been, but she wasn't certain. Plus the idea of it was simply mad so she didn't say any more about it.

Instead, she reached out for his left wrist and gently pulled him against her as she embraced him in a tight hug… slightly unnerved by the fact that she found that his unspoken confession made her stomach do backflips.

_Please Godric let him know how that he isn't a coward for not telling me whatever that was. I could sense that he wanted to tell me but it's never occurred to me before how much bravery it can take to _not _reveal some things. In our circumstance that was his last opportunity, and yet he's willing to potentially carry that secret with him forever… Merlin is this just how Slytherins operate: they bottle up secrets and prefer to operate alone because of it? It's Ironic how bravery can come from running away from things sometimes._

Hermione felt deeply humbled as a Gryffindor from this revelation, so much so that she almost felt sympathetic for the Slytherins for being stereotyped as cowards. That is, assuming her epiphany was accurate.

'I'm really going to miss you.' She whispered into Draco's ear.

'Me too.' He replied as he held her and Hermione breathed in his familiar vanilla-y strawberry scent. She lightly stroked his soft hair with her fingers as she held him and finally allowed a tear to escape her eye, this time, out of sorrow. It had only been a month since they had renewed their friendship but to Hermione it felt like she was losing a more long-term friend like Harry or Ron. Draco's eyes too, were wet when they broke apart and a single tearstain ran down his reddened cheek that Hermione had slapped not so long ago. Still looking at her, he slowly reached into his robes pocket.

'What are you doing?' Hermione asked nervously as he took a pace or two back from her.

'I'm really sorry. I have to do this.' He sniffed as he pulled out his wand and twirled it between his slender fingers. 'It's the only way I'll know you'll be safe when he gets here. If you don't know anything, he can't hurt you.' Hermione panicked, knowing exactly what he was about to do.

'Draco, don't do this. I know you don't want this.' She tried to reason with him as more tears streamed down her face. She met his shining grey eyes and could sense his regret.

'I'm sorry.' He whispered as he raised his wand.

'DRACO, NO!'

'Obliv-'

'EXPELLIARMUS!' Hermione yelled as she drew her own wand. She had been just in the nick of time, for the next second Draco's wand had flown out of his grasp and crashed into the stone wall on the other side of the room. She whipped her head back around to face him. 'What the hell are you playing at?' She demanded.

'What did it look like? Trying to protect you.' He yelled at her in despair.

'Trying to erase my memories _again _without consulting me certainly isn't the way to do it.' She shot back.

'I'm not the one who did it the first time.' He spat.

'I know, but you know what I'm getting at.' Hermione said as the anger drained away. The last thing she wanted was to be arguing with Draco at a time like this. She could see the situation from his point of view after all.

'You're right, that wasn't the way to do it. I just panicked. Honestly I'd like nothing more than to just carry on as we are but that can't happen. We might find a time and a place to make this work someday, but for now there's nothing we can do.' Draco reached out and gently stroked the bracelet around Hermione's wrist.

'Draco there _is _a way, but it's only _you _who can make it happen, and it's going to take a lot of courage.' Hermione said as she looked into Draco's sad eyes, hoping that he would catch on, holding her breath in suspense of his response.

A metallic thud emitted from the cabinet before Draco could answer. He quickly retrieved his wand and stood in front of Hermione as the handle of the cabinet turned and the door creaked open. _That was my last chance; all I can do now is trust him._ Hermione thought as she clutched her wand at her side and Lucius Malfoy stepped into the room.

'Ah Draco, I trust that you are prepared.' He rasped as he scrutinised his surroundings, not looking at his son.

'Yes, Father.' Draco replied in a strong voice.

'Good. I would expect nothing less of you, son.'

'Yes.' Draco said again. Lucius finally let his gaze fall upon his son, and too, on Hermione. (After all, Draco's lean frame did little to obscure her from view.)

'My, my. What do we have here? Miss Granger, is it?' Lucius' thin lip curled upwards into a sneer as he addressed her. Hermione stepped out from behind Draco, her head held high as she stared into the man's steely eyes. They were not dissimilar to Draco's, but somehow Lucius' seemed paler, colder. 'And might I ask why_ she_ is here with you, Draco?' The voice was dangerously low, and Draco remained silent.

'DRACO?' Lucius barked. Both Hermione and Draco jumped violently at the sudden exclamation.

'We were just talking.' Draco replied uncertainly.

'Just…talking…' Lucius whispered under his breath. 'I see. Excuse me for being taken aback but I was under the impression that we had come to an agreement regarding this girl many years ago. I find it a very unwise move on your part to be forming a habit of disobeying orders, particularly from your own family. I consider myself a tolerant person but He certainly isn't: The Dark Lord, Draco, will certainly not stand insolence such as this.'

Lucius had now drawn his own wand from his robes and had begun twirling it between his fingers as Draco had done earlier. 'Perhaps you require a taster of the kind of punishment the Dark Lord will issue if you do not obey his orders.'

'NO!' Hermione couldn't hold her words back. Lucius' eyes were cold and dangerous, and his wand was now pointed at Draco's face. He had turned white as a sheet and his face was scrunched up in fear. His eyes had shot open at her outburst and he stared sideways at her, his chest was rising and falling rapidly.

'As for you, Mudblood.' Lucius drawled icily at her. 'You would do well to hold your tongue in the presence of your superiors.'

'Having pure magical blood certainly doesn't correlate to how good of a person someone is, and certainly not you. Say what you want to me but it's simply appalling what you've put your own son through all these years: taking his best friend away from him when he had no-one else all because of a stupid prophecy!' Hermione probably should have stunned or jinxed Lucius before running off her speech but she had spoken before thinking in that instant. She was breathing hard as she locked eyes with Lucius. At first, he remained still and silent, but them in a blur of shapes and movements Hermione found herself on the floor, stunned and disarmed.

All she could do was splutter and double over as the fall had knocked the wind out of her. She was now curled up in a foetal position at the feet of Draco and his Father. Lucius roughly rolled her over onto her back with his foot and glared down at Hermione.

'Change of plan, Draco. I think it would be a more fitting punishment if you were to put this Mudblood in her place. You both need to learn some respect, so I think the Cruciatus would be the best solution.' Lucius drawled coolly, speaking to Draco but still looking at Hermione.

Hermione flicked her eyes sideways at Draco and her heart sank when she saw that he had his wand pointed at her. He was looking at her with a confused and desperate expression, and Hermione did her best to shake her head without drawing Lucius' attention to it. _Please Draco…_

'Come now Draco, this simply won't do. As a Death Eater you will often be ordered to torture or kill Mudbloods. You will have more to prove than most; it has been confirmed that you are to be a key part to the Dark Lord's next big plan, and dawdling will not be tolerated. Do it.' Lucius whispered into Draco's ear. His wand-arm was shaking, and Hermione could swear she saw him mouth 'I'm sorry' to her. With that, she curled over and braced herself for the pain. But it didn't come.

'I can't do it.' Draco whispered as he dropped his wand to the floor. Lucius looked livid.

'Mark my words, if you dare utter those words to the Dark Lord, it would be the last thing you will ever say.'

'Well you aren't him are you?' Draco shouted hoarsely as a tear escaped his left eye.

'Have it your way then. I shall punish the both of you. I'll attend to the Mudblood first, so you can watch before it's your turn.' Lucius said coldly. The hairs on Hermione's neck were standing on end. He was so heartless and evil, and she tried to brace herself once more by curling up as she saw Lucius raise his wand.

'PLEASE, NO!' Draco's voice thundered. His protest had been in vain as simultaneously came Lucius' voice.

'Crucio!'

Hermione felt her muscles spasm violently throughout her body and she let out an ear-spitting shriek of pain. That was all that seemed to exist now – pain. It was all she could think and feel as she writhed in agony on the hard floorboards. Every inch of her being seemed to burn and contort, and the pain just wouldn't subside no matter how much she willed it to.

'_You go to the school that's over that hill don't you?' He pointed back up the road Hermione had just come from. 'I'll see you there at lunchtime.' _

_Hermione laughed. 'I don't know how you'll get in but okay.' She began walking away. 'Goodbye Draco.' _

'_Magic!' He called after her as she walked around the corner and towards her house. It was an average semi-detached building with neatly pruned rose bushes in the front garden and ivy growing up the drainpipe on the left-most wall. Hermione burst though the front door beaming._

'_Hey Mum guess what, I made a new friend today!' She exclaimed as she dropped her schoolbag by the door and ran to hug her Mum in the living room._

Hermione suddenly became very conscious of the pain once again as the vision flashed through her brain. She recognised the scene from last month when she had watched Draco's memories of their childhood friendship. But something was different. This was the first time Hermione clearly pictured what happened next from her point of view.

'_Don't ask questions. Just promise you'll keep this as a sign of our friendship, I've got one too. I just have the feeling that something's going to happen and I don't want either of us to forget each other. You're my first and best friend and so you'll always be special to me.' _

_Hermione accepted the periwinkle bracelet from Draco, who tied it around her left wrist gently. She blushed and examined the bracelet as Draco turned back to his potion kit. 'It's beautiful. I don't think I'll ever take it off.' She whispered to herself as she twirled the string between her fingers. Hermione kept glancing at it and smiling every so often for the remainder of her visit, and proudly presented it to her parents on the car journey home, chatting excitedly about Draco._

There it was again, a memory she remembered watching in the Pensieve, but an extended one, with _her _point of view. As the torment continued to engulf her, Hermione realised what was happening. She strenuously forced her eyelids open to see what was happening but her vision was blurred with tears, and she realised that she was still screaming, though her voice was becoming hoarse and weak now. She heard someone speak but the voice seemed muffled and distant.

'ENOUGH!'

Hermione collapsed spread-eagled as the torturous wave was finally lifted and her muscles relaxed. She felt completely drained of energy, and all she could do was stare up at the blurred figures of Draco and Lucius above her, unable to do anything. The two men were talking, well shouting was more likely but Hermione's ears were ringing like crazy, and she couldn't focus on their words. _Lucius just broke his own spell by torturing me just now. I think I've got my memories back, the memories he took from me all those years ago. If I had the strength to speak I'd tell Draco; he needs to know. There's nothing else I can do now. It's all up to him. _

Black corners were beginning to form in Hermione's vision and she mustered all of her energy to rub her eyes and tilt her head to see what was happening. The darkness didn't go away. Instead it began to obscure the edges of the scene, slowly working its way inwards. The taller figure, Lucius, had pinned Draco against a wall. Draco's wand lay on the floor at their feet.

Hermione felt dizzy and sleepy, she fought hard to keep her eyes open. Draco was now on his hands and knees on the floor, his head bowed. Lucius was stood over him, his wand raised. Hermione finally gave in and let her eyelids flutter closed. The last thing she saw was Draco picking up his wand and standing up, glancing over to her.

She couldn't identify the voice that spoke next, but she heard what they said clear as day.

'OBLIVIATE!'

That's when Hermione lost consciousness.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review if so :)**


	10. 10 - Closure

**A/N: Well my lovelies, this is it, the final installment. A massive thank you to everyone who has read/ followed/ favourited/ reviewed this story, you are all amazing! One last shout-out to qsklue for the consistent feedback and support! **

**There's a lot of tying up of loose ends so this chapter is about 1,500 more words than the last. Hope that's okay? :) **

**For the last time on this story, I own nothing!**

* * *

'_OBLIVIATE!'_

_That's when Hermione lost consciousness._

* * *

_Hermione opened her eyes after an undetermined amount of time had passed. It couldn't have been long though because she saw the blurred outlines of Draco and Lucius standing beside the Vanishing Cabinet, which was now open. It was quite a daunting artefact: the supposed passage seemed more like an endless and eerie pathway into nothing. _

_Even through her blurred vision, Hermione was confident that the two wizards hadn't noticed her regained consciousness, for all she could see was the back of Draco's head, so the two were obviously conversing with one another._

Odd… _Hermione thought to herself. _The last thing I remember is being tortured mercilessly by Lucius, and now they're being _civil_? What the bloody hell is going on?

_She lifted a hand cautiously to rub her eyes, but it was a lot of effort. Her whole body felt heavy like there was an invisible weight pinning it to the floor, and every small movement was accompanied by a sharp stinging sensation of pins and needles. This struggle and ache triggered a feeble groan to escape Hermione's throat as she finally cleared her vision._

_To her dismay, her moan had apparently not been as feeble as it sounded in her head: she heard footsteps and suddenly her brain was back on full alert. She certainly wasn't going down without a fight; if indeed that was what was coming next._

'_Get up, Mudblood.' Believing the voice to belong to Lucius Malfoy, Hermione did as he bade. Going down without a fight was one thing, but she sure as hell wasn't risking another torture session for the sake of pissing him off for refusing to stand. She decided it wasn't worth it, though the temptation was strong._

_She dragged herself up off the floor in front of the figure before her. She vaguely recalled being disarmed earlier; therefore she delayed looking at the wizard's face to search the floor of the room with her eyes for her wand. After looking for a minute or two with no luck, she raked her gaze upwards and gaped slightly._

_It was not Lucius who stood in front of her; Hermione could see his curtain of platinum blonde hair still standing beside the cabinet in her peripheral vision. Instead her eyes met the familiar stormy grey of Draco's. She frowned in confusion. Was her brain still disorientated from being under the Cruciatus Curse? She could almost swear that the voice had come from where Draco stood, and not over by the cabinet…_

'_Right. If you value your pathetic life, you're not going to utter a single word to anyone about this: not Weasel, not Potter, not even that old fool Dumbledore.' Hermione practically flinched away from Draco as he addressed her once more. His voice was cold and venomous. It was almost like time had been turned back to the old Draco back in first year._

_It occurred to Hermione that at this stage, he had been pretending to dislike her for Lucius' sake… maybe the same thing was happening now. Sadly, she had to dismiss this conclusion: for one thing Draco had been willingly going against Lucius' words before she had been tortured, and for another the Draco she knew and remembered to be her old friend, would have winked at her to reassure her that it was all an act. _

_The Draco that stood before her now had narrowed unblinking eyes, and held her wand between his fingers._

'_Draco, give me my wand and we can sort this out.' She said, stubbornly trying to reach out to the Draco she knew. _

'_You have no right to call me that, you pathetic piece of scum.' He spat at her, holding her wand up high and out of reach when she lunged for it. This would have been the perfect opportunity to attempt a wandless summoning charm, but that required complete focus and Hermione was in no such state of mind. _

'_Don't worry you'll get your wand back…not that someone like you is deserving of one but what can I say? I must be in a generous mood.' He said darkly. 'As I was saying, you are to keep your big mouth shut about this. I'm sure you are well aware of what this Vanishing Cabinet is going to be used for, and you are not to follow us when we leave.'_

_Draco's sudden dark presence was scaring Hermione, so all she could do was nod silently. Her heart was pounding and sweat was beading on her forehead, but she refused to appear intimidated, and therefore kept her back drawn straight and her chin tilted upward. _

'_Well well, it looks like you do have the ability to keep quiet. Good, now let's keep it that way.' The Slytherin had taken a step forwards and reduced the space between them drastically. The torchlight was illuminating his eyes in the same way it had all those weeks ago, but now it seemed very sinister and Hermione couldn't fathom how on earth she had once thought it to look beautiful… _

'_Just be warned: if you grass me up, I'll know. Just because I'm leaving now to join the Dark Lord doesn't mean I won't be returning to Hogwarts soon. And I'll make sure to make you pay for betraying me.' His voice was too calm and collected for Hermione's liking, and a chill went down her spine. _

_Draco looked her up and down one final time and sneered. Never before had Hermione felt so small and worthless as she did in that moment, looking at the contempt and disgust that twisted his pointed features as he scrutinised her. She mentally kicked herself for allowing him of all people to make her feel such a way, like she cared about him, like his opinion mattered to her…_

Except that it does. _Her brain whispered. _

_Regardless of her confusion and humiliation, Hermione refused to break eye contact with the blond. Doing so would confirm to him that he had power over her and that she was scared of him, and there was no way she was letting that happen whilst she still had a shred of dignity left. The grey pools were completely void of recollection and familiarity as they bored into her brown eyes, and Hermione had no idea why._

'_Come, Draco. We have been delayed enough as it is and I'm sure you remember that the Dark Lord is not one for tolerating unpunctual wizards… newcomers in particular.' The casual drawl of Lucius Malfoy cut across the tense atmosphere and he scowled cruelly at Hermione as she glanced over to him. _

_Something about his demeanour was mocking and smug, and upon witnessing this, the cogs in Hermione's brain started turning and the pieces of the jigsaw finally snapped into place. _

_The last thing she remembered before fainting had been the shout of one of the wizards uttering the incantation of a memory charm, and now Draco was acting strangely. It was clear what had happened and Hermione felt that she wouldn't be able to forgive herself if she let that awful man manipulate his son in such a way just for his own selfish means. _

_In the time it had taken Hermione to put two and two together, Draco had crossed the room and was now stood poised to step into the Vanishing Cabinet. _

'_NO!' She screamed. _

_His lean body tensed and he whirled around. His expression was livid and he bore no resemblance to the boy she had known as a child. _

'_Don't do this. I know you don't want to do this.' She said helplessly. _

'_And who are you to tell me such things? You are _nothing _to me.' There was no hostility as he spoke, but his words cut Hermione like a knife._

'_Draco, what are you waiting for? Go.' Lucius snapped. The younger blond nodded rigidly and he turned away once more, not even glancing at Hermione as he did so. _

_Failing to register her renewed blurry vision from the silent tears that were falling, Hermione launched herself forwards and broke into a sprint towards the cabinet. All logical reason had escaped her mind and all she was going on was her instinct, and the pain that wrenched her heart upon seeing Draco so close from throwing his life away through no fault of his own. _

_She had been so focused on reaching Draco that she hadn't noticed that he had dropped her wand onto the floor. The tip of Hermione's left shoe had clipped it and she fell onto her front, bumping her head on the floor in the process. She raised her head and fumbled beneath her body to retrieve her wand that was now painfully jabbing her stomach. _

_After successfully withdrawing it, she aimed it upwards at the cabinet, a reversal spell on the tip of her tongue, but she was too late. _

_The back of Draco's platinum blond head was gradually becoming obscured by shadows and darkness as he stepped into the bowels of the cabinet. Beside it, Lucius did nothing but chuckle softly at Hermione's expense._

_She didn't know where the words came from, why she said them or indeed why_ _she hoped to achieve anything by saying them, but the desperation was too much. _

'_I love you!' _

_Her voice was hoarse as tears were still streaming down her face but she was positive Draco had heard her. _

_The muffled wail she let out next was not one of happiness or relief. It was one of frustration and sorrow._

_He had kept on walking…_

* * *

'Hermione! Wake up!'

Hermione was jolted awake by a warm hand on her arm shaking her side to side. She was breathing hard as she opened her eyes to look upon the familiar and safe surroundings of the Hospital Wing infirmary. A blanket of sweat covered her forehead and body, and she looked around wildly in attempt to come to terms with the awful, vivid dream she had just had.

Her eyes met the dazzling emerald of Harry's. He was looking down at her with an expression full of worry.

How had he found her? More to the point, just how long had she been in here? She began to sit up, needing answers.

Harry seemed to have picked up on her sudden alarm and curiosity and he rubbed her shoulder soothingly in an attempt to calm her fraught nerves.

'That must have been some nightmare you just had.' He said.

'Yeah, you were thrashing around and screaming all sorts.' Hermione snapped her head around to the other side of the bed at the sound of Ron's voice.

Seriously what had gone on whilst she had been asleep? Ron had been close to exploding with anger the last time they had spoken.

What concerned Hermione more than this question was what Ron had said to her just now: 'You were thrashing around _and screaming all sorts.' _

The last few moments of her dream flashed through her mind in a blur of images, words and emotions and her stomach dropped.

'Erm, just what kind of things was I screaming exactly?' She asked, though she wasn't all too keen about hearing the answer. The majority of the things she had said to Draco in her dream were certainly things she'd like to keep private.

Ron cleared his throat uncomfortably and the rush of blood to his ears was confirmation enough for Hermione that she had been talking in her sleep as she simultaneously spoke in her dream. She groaned in embarrassment and pulled the duvet up over her head to hide away from her friends.

She emerged after a few moments of sulking and cringing and looked at Harry and Ron individually, not knowing what to say to them. There had been way too much drama in her day to handle already and she didn't feel like having a confrontation with her friends just hours after being tortured by a Death Eater.

As Hermione tried to string a sentence together in her mind, she took a moment to take in her surroundings in a little more detail. Two more of the beds were occupied, and Madam Pomfrey was fussing over one of the patients: a third-year Ravenclaw student who seemed to have taken an overdose of Fred and George's Fever Fudge. Harry and Ron sat at her bedside but otherwise the room was empty.

Something seemed missing, and Hermione had a firm idea of what, or rather _who _it was. Draco was nowhere to be seen and no matter how much she didn't want to believe it, she was sure that she wouldn't be seeing him anytime soon. Harry already believed the blond to be a Death Eater so upon finding her unconscious in the company of Draco and Lucius, alarm bells would have rung in his head and he was more than likely to have handed them over to Dumbledore.

Hermione couldn't help being paranoid and wondering whether her dream hadn't been just a dream, but more of a memory. After all, it wouldn't be the first time she had had such an experience. She slumped heavily back against the pillows, feeling deflated as she mulled over the possibilities. Draco, the poor misunderstood boy who had befriended her as a child and then been forced to live as if he never knew her, was either selling his soul to the devil (or in this case, Voldemort) and filled with a false hatred for her, or locked up in a cell in Azkaban awaiting trial. Either way, it seemed like a lost cause to try and convince Harry and Ron that he's not the person they think he is.

A single tear escaped her eye as she stared blankly ahead of her, which Ron wiped away gently with the pad of his thumb. Hermione tilted her head and smiled weakly at him, trying to silently explain everything to him. She was a little puzzled as to why his blue eyes looked at her with what looked like a begrudging acceptance or understanding. Was it just pity, or did her friends somehow know much more than they were letting on?

There was a light knocking sound on the large wooden door that was the infirmary's only entrance, and Hermione watched as Madam Pomfrey hurried towards it. The Ravenclaw protested but the Medi-Witch paid him no heed. Hermione craned her neck upon hearing the sound of the doors being opened and the muffled conversation that followed, but she couldn't see anything as Harry's figure obscured her line of vision.

Echoing footsteps was the next sound she heard and she could barely believe her eyes as a mop of dishevelled white-blond hair came into view just behind the foot of her bed. Hermione automatically sat up, ignoring the nausea she felt in her head as she moved.

All she could do was stare in utter shock at Draco, whose face was still white as a sheet, but now he had dark circles under his bloodshot eyes and what looked like a cut on his left temple. Despite his unhealthy appearance, he still managed to twist his mouth into a sideways smile as he looked at her.

His smile faded as his attention turned to Harry and Ron. A tense silence filled the air around them and Hermione was tempted to hide beneath her bedding again, but the atmosphere soon passed when Draco curtly nodded to each of her friends in turn. His expression wasn't particularly friendly, but Hermione was lost as to why he was being so civil around them.

Harry scowled at the blond and nodded back with a robotic jerk of his chin and Ron followed suit; however he chose to look at the floor instead of at the Slytherin.

Almost as if acting on a cue in a telepathic play, Ron and Harry then rose from their seats and proceeded to hug Hermione goodbye.

'We'll talk to you in the Common Room later.' Harry whispered when he drew back from her. His voice carried a casual and light-hearted tone rather than the serious and accusing one Hermione would have expected, and she turned her attention back to Draco once Madam Pomfrey had seen the two Gryffindors out.

'So I get the feeling I'm missing something here.' She managed to find her voice again when Draco moved to sit on the edge of her bed. 'There _are _two perfectly good chairs next to the bed you know.' She added, laughing for the first time in what felt like days.

Draco shrugged. 'The appeal of the chairs was vastly lowered after they supported the likes of Weasley and Potter.' He drawled snarkily, though Hermione could see the twinkle of humour in his glassy eyes.

She leaned forwards and thumped his arm playfully and he made a show of looking offended and hurt by her actions.

'Honestly Hermione, is that really any way to treat your knight in shining armour?'

Hermione ignored the smug choice of words and focused on the message he was conveying.

'Do you mean to tell me that you're the one who brought me here?' She asked, revelling in the feeling of her stomach un-knotting and her heart fluttering at hearing him say her name after that awful dream she had had not so long ago.

'Something like that.' Draco said after a short pause.

Hermione huffed and folded her arms. 'Honestly could you not be so damn cryptic for once?' She said, though she couldn't help smiling with the relief that Draco was still, well, Draco.

'I suppose I could oblige that request just this once.' He smirked. 'Well technically it was the Weasel who brought you here, but I'm the one who told him to.' Draco looked up at Hermione, who looked suitably confused at his statement. 'I suppose I need to backtrack on a couple of details.' He continued slowly, and Hermione nodded.

Draco rose from the bed and paced in front of it, palms pressed together and his chin resting on his fingertips. His eyes looked guarded all of a sudden and Hermione couldn't help feeling guilty that she was coaxing him out of information that was clearly difficult for him to divulge. On the flip side, there were way too many unanswered questions that she knew Draco's tale could potentially answer.

'Okay.' He said, finally returning to his position sat at the end of her bed. He wasn't looking at her, but Hermione could see that his eyes were still wide and haunted. Draco took a deep breath before speaking.

'I don't know when exactly you fainted, so I'll start from when I stopped father from torturing you.' He said calmly.

'Okay, and well thank you for that, really. That was very brave of you.' Hermione said, wanting to make the pained expression fade from his face. She touched Draco's shoulder lightly, and he gave her a small smile in return.

'Maybe, but we both know I could have done something sooner; you could have been spared being tortured altogether. I just didn't know what to do. Seeing what he was doing to you – it made me feel sick, I couldn't help but hate him, couldn't help but feel scared that you hated me for not stopping him. In the end I wasn't thinking; just going on what my gut was telling me.'

Hermione didn't know what to say, but leant forwards and placed her hand on top of Draco's, squeezing lightly and praying it offered him some degree of comfort. His breath hitched slightly at the contact, and he smiled at her again.

'A-anyway.' He continued, clearing his throat. 'All of my rational thoughts were gone by that point. When I shouted, father lost focus, breaking the Curse. He began walking in my direction; I've never seen him so angry before, and that's saying something. He disarmed me and slammed me against the wall and pinned me there with his wand in my face. I honestly thought he was going to kill me.'

Draco paused. His face was scrunched up as he recalled the memory and Hermione gave his hand another encouraging squeeze, which seemed to give him the strength to carry on.

'He began shouting at me; telling me that he wasn't going to kill me but that he wasn't going to stand in You-Know-Who's way if he wished to at some point. I shouted back saying that he may be my father, but he didn't have any control over me and that I didn't want to become a Death Eater. We began arguing and I knew that if I pushed my luck much longer he would go back on his word and kill me himself or drag me through the Vanishing Cabinet so I had no choice but to become a Death Eater.

Frankly, I wasn't too thrilled about either scenario. I looked down and saw my wand right next to my foot so I took a risk. I lashed out at father, hoping to knock him back a couple of paces so I could get my wand, but since I was against the wall I didn't have much room to gain momentum. He struck me on the side of the head and I fell to my knees on the floor.'

Hermione nodded, remembering seeing that exact sight just before fainting, though she didn't see the moment Lucius struck. Well that was one question answered: namely, how Draco had cut his temple.

'It took me a couple of seconds to adjust to what had happened, but I knew I didn't have much time to act. Ironically father did me a favour by hitting me: my wand wasn't far away. I lunged for it and instinctively knew which spell to use. I'll admit I did think about using it on you, but I realised that doing so wouldn't do anything to protect you, so I erased my father's memories instead.'

Draco visibly relaxed when he fell silent again: apparently the hard part was over in his tale.

'Rather an apt spell to use on him, don't you think?' Draco's eyes twinkled with humour and Hermione laughed, having not picked up on the beautiful irony of Draco's actions until then.

'Sorry I shouldn't laugh.' She said. 'I know how awful Lucius can be at times, but even so that must have been difficult for you to do.'

Draco shrugged. 'It's only a memory charm. Not like I used an Unforgiveable or anything.'

'So what did you do next?' Hermione asked.

'In that moment, nothing. I had to think of a plan. I mean, facing You-Know-Who without me would have been dangerous enough for father, but turning up both without me, and having no idea about anything could have been potentially fatal. Plus you were out cold and I didn't want to leave either of you alone. That's when your infernal friends showed up.'

'But how-?'

Draco shrugged again. 'No idea, Potter was carrying this massive piece of parchment, but thinking about it now he would have had that Lucky Potion wouldn't he?'

_The Marauder's Map, of course! Merlin, how could I not have figured it out earlier? _Hermione decided not to mention the map and played along with the Felix Felicis theory, even though that was impossible, as the phial was still in her chest of drawers in the dormitories.

'Don't say this to them, but I was bloody thankful for their meddling ways in that moment.' The blond laughed. 'So after almost getting my balls hexed off by Weasley, I explained as much as they needed to know. It took them almost half an hour to make them believe me.'

'That's odd. I mean I love them but Merlin those two don't usually take much convincing.' Hermione said.

'To be fair to them, this is _me _who they were hearing an explanation from. Also they didjust walk into a room to see me and my Death Eater father… not to mention that you were unconscious.'

'Yes when you put it that way I can imagine what conclusions they jumped to.'

'Exactly. But somewhere along my interrogation apparently my answers 'fit in' with something you had been saying to Potter at breakfast, so eventually they believed me.'

Hermione dreaded to think what would have happened to her and Draco if she hadn't said anything to Harry that morning.

'So, where's Lucius now?' She asked.

A flash passed Draco's eyes at the mention of his father's name, but other than that he seemed calm.

'Well, probably locked up in Azkaban right about now.' He said quietly.

'What?' Hermione gasped. Sure it was nice to know that a Death Eater would be behind bars, but it was still Draco's father.

Draco shrugged again. 'Like I said, he would have been killed if I let him go through that Cabinet, and if he stayed at the Manor with mother then it wouldn't take You-Know-Who long to track him down.'

Hermione nodded in understanding and the blond continued.

'To be honest I think I knew deep down that I'd have to hand him over to Dumbledore and the Aurors, for his own safety as well as ours, but I was still reluctant. I felt like I'd be betraying him but after talking to Potter about it, it seemed like the only option.'

'And what about you? I mean, wouldn't you still be expected to join the Death Eaters? Weren't you supposed to be part of some kind of 'great plot' or something?' Hermione babbled, suddenly remembering the words of the prophecy she heard about in Draco's memories.

She hadn't realised that she had begun to sit up straighter in bed as her mind went into overdrive until she felt a warm hand pushing her shoulder gently down again.

'Easy Granger, you're supposed to be resting up not getting over-excited.' Draco laughed.

'But-'

Draco held up a hand to silence her and proceeded to answer her question. 'Dumbledore, funnily enough, seemed to know in advance about this 'mission' I was to be assigned, Merlin knows how. Anyway he said that going into hiding wouldn't be an option and that staying at school would protect me…until after seventh year at least. It actually made me feel kind of guilty for slandering his name all these years.' He added sheepishly.

Before she knew what she was doing, Hermione leant forwards and flung her arms around his neck, beyond grateful that he could no longer be controlled by Lucius and that he actually had his life back. Draco seemed shocked at first and didn't move initially, but soon wrapped his arms around her waist. She still couldn't get used to how right this felt.

A thought suddenly occurred to her and she pulled away. His grey eyes were puzzled. She was grinning.

'What?' He asked.

'You don't realise do you?'

'Now who's being the cryptic one?' He lifted an eyebrow at her.

'The prophecy, Draco. The bloody prophecy!' She couldn't help but squeal with joy, resulting in a stern look from Madam Pomfrey, but her ecstasy didn't falter. ''_Following the footsteps of his heart and not his family values, two hearts will become one, thus posing a threat to not only the purest of ancient bloodlines, but also to great plots when the Dark Lord returns!'_

'Okay I know you have a point, and I'd love to hear it. But first I must address the fact that you bloody _memorised_ that prophecy after hearing it once.' Draco rolled his eyes.

'Git.' She replied. 'But the fact that this plot has been prevented from being carried out means that we, or rather _you _managed to fulfil the requirements. The moment you turned against Lucius' wishes when he was…torturing me,' Hermione supressed a shudder, '_that _was when you 'followed your heart' as it says. You did it!'

Draco couldn't help but smirk, but he seemed shocked nonetheless.

'You know the prophecy never occurred to me; in that moment all I wanted was to take the pain away from you.'

Hermione was taken aback. _Draco Malfoy being modest? Am I dreaming?_

'Hang on a second, what did you say the prophecy said? Something about two hearts becoming one.'

'What about it?' Hermione shrugged.

'Well, what does that mean? We must have done that somehow otherwise You-Know-Who wouldn't be stopped. Come on bookworm, tell me what that was all about.' He smirked again.

'Well the most obvious conclusion is that the 'becoming one' phrase is literal, which would point to the moment when you er, kissed me.' She inwardly cursed as she felt a rush of blood to her cheeks as she recalled what had happened earlier. 'The only other conclusion would be metaphorical so that suggests that you and I are …Oh Merlin.'

That was the moment Hermione realised. The meaning of the 'becoming one' statement was the latter scenario she had just mentioned. It had to be: In the prophecy the 'becoming one' stuff was subject to Draco following his heart. In other words, it didn't happen until after he stood up to Lucius.

But she had never thought about having those kinds of… _feelings _for Draco; at least whilst she was conscious anyway. She remembered her nightmare.

_She didn't know where the words came from, why she said them or indeed why_ _she hoped to achieve anything by saying them, but the desperation was too much. _

'_I love you!' _

_Her voice was hoarse as tears were still streaming down her face but she was positive Draco had heard her. _

In hindsight the dream must have been a message from her subconscious thoughts, and it scared her that she hadn't realised sooner. The thought was mad but at the same time, she didn't seem to be disagreeing with her own argument…

The final piece of evidence for her wild theory came from the memory of what she and Draco had been discussing in the Room of Requirement. He had almost confessed something to her, something big, and something she suspected a Malfoy didn't admit easily.

'Oh Merlin.' She repeated.

Whilst she had been uncovering the bombshell she had inadvertently dropped on herself, Draco hadn't spoken. She chanced a glance at him and he was looking back at her with that same glimmer that had been in his eyes she had seen in the Room of Requirement. Her heart began pounding and she wondered, _has he worked it out too?_

The blond took her brief divided attention as the perfect opportunity. He leant in and lightly pressed his lips to hers, and instantly Hermione's whole body felt lighter. It was different than the kiss they shared earlier; this was gentle and meaningful whilst the other was desperate and rushed. The slower approach made Hermione realise just how warm his lips were, how soft…

Draco pulled away as Madam Pomfrey cleared her throat and glared at her before he moved and leant his forehead against Hermione's and the Medi-Witch shuffled off into her office muttering to herself. Draco looked at Hermione through the blond strands that were falling into his eyes and smiled.

'Listen, Hermione. About what I was about to tell you earlier, forget about it. You'd think of me as an idiot, given the history _you _know us to have. I just can't –'

'Shh.' Hermione whispered. 'Merlin, why haven't I told you this before now? Draco, when Lucius was torturing me, my memories came back. I remember everything.' She beamed.

'You're joking? I swear if you are I'm going to hex you into next week.' The menace behind the threat was lost through the worry that was in his voice.

'No joke. I remember, Draco.' Hermione repeated again.

'Oh Merlin.' Draco pulled her into a tight hug and squeezed her, channelling every once of relief and happiness he was feeling through doing so.

'Well in that case I may as well go for it. Today seems to be 'take a chance' day for me.' He laughed, suddenly sounding so carefree after Hermione's revelation.

'Right, I understand if I make a total arse out of myself by telling you this. And I hope that if I do it won't affect our friendship. Because dammit I've just got you – and your memories – back and I'm sure as hell not letting it go again.'

Hermione nodded in understanding but couldn't speak from the pounding of her heart in her throat.

'What I was trying to tell you back in the Room of Requirement, and what I'm going to say to you now is that Hermione Granger, despite being an insufferable know-it-all goody-goody Gryffindor bookworm, I er… I love you.' He said uncertainly but sincerely.

In that moment all previous doubt fled from Hermione's mind. She knew how she felt about this boy and was sure of it even more so now that she knew their complete history together, the history that had begun seven years ago outside the shops in her town square.

She smiled and met his eyes. 'And you, Draco Malfoy, are a stubborn, pretentious and self-righteous Slytherin prat.' Draco's eyes momentarily flickered with disappointment.

'_But.' _She continued. 'You have to be one of the most loyal and strong people I know. And I love you too.'

No sooner had the words left her mouth did he cover her lips with his once more, and all stress and worry fled Hermione's mind. She would tackle breaking this to Harry and Ron later, but for now, Draco was all she was thinking about.

Solved were the mysteries of the blond boy who appeared in her dreams, the string bracelet, the flower and note from the past that were in her dormitory as well as her history with the most unlikely person she could have imagined.

She didn't want to consider how things would have turned out if she never kept that note, or if Draco never decided to tell her everything. No, instead, she was finally going to get back to studying for her O.W.L.s.

The End.

* * *

**A/N: Reviews are always loved! **

**There were so many ways I could have gone with that 'obliviate' moment and I hope you're happy with how it went. Just to clarify on something Draco refers to Voldemort as You-Know-Who in the second part to show the contrast from 'nightmare-Draco' and I figured he wouldn't call him Voldemort because well, most Death Eater families are terrified of him. **

**I've loved every minute of writing this story, and as my first multi-chap, I don't quite feel ready to say goodbye. I've been thinking about writing a prequel in Draco's point of view of meeting Hermione and all through to fifth year at Hogwarts...**

**I'm currently writing for a challenge about the Marauder's, the first part of which should be up soon...**

**Lot's more writing to be done, better get to it! I hope you'll enjoy my future ff's :)**

**Until next time**

**Amy **


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